Plant Leaves Left On Soil
Many plants produce organic acids. Where plant litter accumulates on or is incorporated to the soil, these acids (including acetic acid, humic acid (see http://www.suprahumic.unina.it/), oxalic acid, and tannic acid) are liberated. This is especially acute in soils under coniferous trees such as pine, spruce and fir, which return fewer base cations to the soil than do most deciduous trees.
Read more about this topic: Soil Acidification
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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At rich men’s tables eaten bread and pulse?
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That riches grow in hell; that soil may best
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