Micro-mineralogy of Forest Soils Developed on Different Parent Rocks and their Suitability for Afforestation

Abstract

A comparative mineralogical study of forest soils of the Karnataka state developed on fine grained argillaceous sandstone, lateritic rock, shale, granitegneiss and schist has been conducted with a view to find out the fertility status of mineral soils. These soils contains minerals that are poor sources of plant nutrients and have been planted with fast growing Eucalyptus hybrid after clearfelling the indigenous forests. The study indicates that it is important to protect these nutrient poor soils against any site degradation that may arise due to the high nutrient uptake under such man made forests.