Ecology 6th Edition by Charles Krebs

Exercise 7

Land use changes in Brazil are frequently in the news because of the conversion of tropical forest to pasture. About 70% of the forest clearing in Brazil is for cattle pastures. Discuss the nutrient balance issues that arise from this type of land conversion from forest to pasture, and whether there could be no overall net loss of soil carbon and nitrogen in this conversion. Cerri et al. (2004) discuss this issue and provide data.