Rainforest | endemiccostarica

Costa Rica Rainforest

Soil of the Rainforest

Costa Rica is saturated with nutrient rich habitats of vast Rainforests. The Costa Rican rainforest is made up of thousands of different flora and fauna. Around a third of Costa Rica is devoted to the rainforest. The constant humidity and warm temperature allows a large variety of biodiversity in Costa Rica.

Although Costa Rica constains some of the deepst soil in the entire world, the top soil of the rainforest is suprisingly thin. The topsoil with all the nutrients is from the constant degrading of leaves and other natural items. This topsoil is filled with nutrients, but since itsn't very deep, many agriculture workers found a very costly (for the environment) solution.

What is Laterite?

Laterites are soil types constructed of iron and auminum, packing this soil layer overflowing with nutrients. Laterite is normally red becuase of the iron oxides in the soi. They generate from the weathing of the underlaying rock, which is occuring every day in the tropical rainforest. Laterite give many plants the nutrients to survive and thrive.

Slash and Burn Technique

The Slash and burn is a technique used commonly for farming throughout areas inhabiting rainforests. In just a few years, many crops can use almost their entire top-soil "reserves". In order to maintain more rich soil for their cropts, farmers slash and burn, quickly cutting and burning a large area of plot of land in a short amount of time. Due to the increase of agriculture, the slash and burn technique is detroying thousands of acres of land, destroy ecosystem after ecosystem.