August 02, 2023

By Ricardo Muniz  |  Agência FAPESP – A type of soil called terra preta da Amazônia, or Amazon dark earth (ADE), promotes faster growth of trees and enhances their development in qualitative terms, according to an article published in the journal Frontiers in Soil Science. 

The findings reported in the article resulted from studies supported by FAPESP (projects 20/08927-0, 18/19000-4 and 14/50320-4) under the aegis of its Biodiversity, Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use Program (BIOTA). 

“ADE is rich in nutrients and supports communities of microorganisms that help plants grow, among other things. Native people of the Amazon have used ADE to grow food for centuries and don’t need fertilizer for plants,” said Luís Felipe Guandalin Zagatto, a master’s student at the University of São Paulo’s Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA-USP) in Piracicaba, Brazil, and one of the authors of the article.

The researchers found the microbiota (bacteria, archaea, fungi and other microorganisms) in ADE to be highly beneficial to plant growth. Addition of ADE to the soil boosted the growth of the three tree species they analyzed. Seedlings of Brazilian cedarwood (Cedrela fissilis) and Yellow poinciana (Peltophorum dubium) grew to between twice and five times normal height in soil with 20% ADE, and three to six times with 100% ADE, compared with growth in control soil. Ambay pumpwood (Cecropia pachystachya) did not grow at all in control soil (soil without ADE) but flourished in 100% ADE.

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