Question

Why is nutrient availability in a tropical rain forest particularly vulnerable to logging?

Short answer

In a tropical rain forest, the major portion of nutrients are stored within the trees, so logging would decrease the nutrient concentration of the ecosystem. The nutrients present in the soil will also be depleted due to surface runoff and dissolution in the groundwater.

Step-by-step solution

Tropical rain forest

The ecosystems are of several types, and each is characterized by its own abiotic conditions along with species richness. A tropical rain forest refers to one of the types of terrestrial ecosystems which is characterized by a typically consistent warm and humid climate, evergreen trees, and a variety of fauna.

Step 2:Logging

The term logging is used for describing the process in which forests are destructed for their timber; in logging, trees are cut, processed, and transported to another location.Logging leads to disturbance in the ecosystem and causes the destruction of habitat for various faunas.

Step 3:Nutrient disbalance due to logging

In the ecosystem of the tropical rainforest, maximum nutrients are present in the trees. The process of logging in tropical rain forest results in loss of tree cover and would thus lead to a decrease in nutrient concentration.

Another effect of logging would be the loss of nutrients from the soil. Roots of trees prevent soil erosion and surface runoff; in the absence of trees, the nutrients in the soil would also be lost either due to surface runoff or due to the dissolution of nutrients in the groundwater.