SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Amazon's Low Salt Content Keeps Carbon Emissions at Bay

from National Geographic News

Supposedly the most robust of the world's rain forests, the Amazon jungle suffers from "chronic malnutrition" due to a lack of salt, according to the lead scientist behind a new study.

And that might not be a bad thing, because the carbon build-up spurred by lack of salt in some forests may be keeping our atmosphere cooler.

Decomposers--life-forms that munch on dead plants--don't get enough of the vital mineral, which deep in the rain forest comes primarily from mammal urine. That lack of salt keeps decomposer numbers in check, while plants, which don't need salt, flourish, piling up carbon on the forest floor when they die.