7. Environment and climate
The woods of the Marl District (and not only here)
are threatened by the increased acidity of the
soil caused by industry, traffic and agriculture.
Ammonia
in the air from spreading manure on the fields
has been very harmful, but now farmers are
obliged to
inject their manure into the soil – and the
air is much cleaner.
Acidification makes the woods
more sensitive to drought, insects and mildews
and dissolves poisonous aluminium in the soil.
Modern
agriculture asks for a lowering of the water-table,
which causes drying up in the whole region.
Excess
of dissolved nitrogen leaking from the fields into
nature makes the soil unfit for many sensitive
plant species. Stinging nettle and bramble flourish
where
air and soil are acid, many rare species disappear.
Deterioration
of the environment makes butterflies disappear
as well as beetles, like maybugs. Even the earthworm
suffers. The disappearing biodiversity in the soil
causes decay of the soils’ structure and
fertility.
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