Dark earth: Ancient Amazonian soil can boost forest restoration, study finds
Reported byMongabay ↗·Sourced by Goodlede
A January 2026 study by researchers from University of São Paulo, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, and National Institute of Amazonian Research found that ancient Amazonian dark earth (ADE) increased native tree seedling growth by up to 55% in height and 88% in stem diameter within 180 days under real field conditions, while also shifting soil microbiota to reduce pathogens and increase beneficial fungi.
The study used modest amounts of ADE in controlled field trials; scaling to large-scale forest restoration and isolating beneficial microbes for bioinputs remain in development.
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