Re: Scientific Point-of-View
Barry Garcia wrote:
>
> johna@mech.eng.usyd.edu.au writes:
> >More to the point in this Medit-plants group: We don't want to sacrifice
> >whatever natural vegetation remains on those other "less optimal soils and
> >climates" either.
>
> BTW: Aren't rainforest soils not that great either? I hear most of the
> nutrients are locked in the leaf litter on the ground and on the
> branches, and very little is in the soil itself.
Yes, true. That's one of the reasons why the clearing of rainforests is
such a disaster - when the trees are felled and/or burned, and the
leaf-litter removed, there is no soil fertility remaining. Yet the
original rain-forest eco-system was totally viable long-term (and was
contributing heavily to the removal of CO2 from the air and
replenishment with oxygen).
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
