Characteristics and formation of rain forest soils from Quaternary basalt in Leyte, Philippines
The classical view about soils of tropical rain forest ecosystems is that these soils are old, acidic, and infertile. It is now widely acknowledged that this view which has greatly influenced research and management of the fragile rain forest ecosystem during the last several decades is largely a misconception. Although highly weathered soils (Oxisols or Ferralsols) are the most dominant soils in the humid tropics, tropical soils range from relatively young fertile soils (e.g. Inceptisols) to the highly weathered infertile soils (e..g. Oxisols). The extent of highly weathered soils is less in geologically young areas like in much of SE Asia. More detailed investigations of rain forest soils are vital for the sustainable management of this threatened ecosystems. These could also lead to a better understanding of the response of rain forests to climate change. Navarrete et al. (2009) recently conducted a study to evaluate the physical, chemical and mineralogical characterisitics of rain ...