Tree clearing

Forests cleared to make way for Cow pastures.

Effects of tree clearing on soil biota have not been studied extensively. Some effects that have been noted are:

• Microarthropod and microbial biomass abundance higher under eucalypt trees than in grassy interspaces between trees
• Increase in earthworm numbers in temperate grassland after clearing deciduous European forests
• Decline in earthworm numbers in tropical soils after clearing forests