What happens to a rainforest when the trees are logged or cleared with fire?
About 80% of the rainforests nutrients comes from trees and plants. That leaves 20% of the nutrients in the soil. The nutrients from the leaves that fall are instantly recycled back up into the plants and trees. When a rainforest is clear-cut, conditions change very quickly. The soil dries up in the sun. When it rains, it washes the soil away, leaving the land barren and desert-like. Q: Can rainforests grow back once they have been destroyed? A: A rainforest cannot be replaced. Once it has been destroyed it will be gone forever. Once the web of interdependence has been broken, plants and animals have no way to rebuild their complex communities. Rainforests have been evolving for 70 to 100 million years. They contain plants and animals that live nowhere else on earth. When a rainforest is destroyed, so are the plants and animals who have lived there for millions of years. Once they are destroyed, they will only be memories of our past – unless we help to preserve them now! Glossary Biom
