Bare ground, continued

The image on the previous post was taken on a walking trail at Bosque Santa Lucia and one would have to expect bare ground in this case. The attached image was taken off the trail system only to show that it's almost bare too. We're close to the end of the rainy season and nearly all the forest litter has been decomposed by microorganisms and termites, which in turn provide food to a hungry forest. Few nutrients are found in these tropical soils. Nutrients are tied up in the biomass, i.e., the trees, the plants and what falls from them.