After the litter has decomposed, the nutrients from it pass into the mineral soil and may be taken up by the roots or washed out into streams. Nutrients may also get into the soil from the breakdown of soil minerals. Most of the plant roots are in the top 0.1 to 0.3 metres of the soil . This layer of roots is important for taking in nutrients which enter the soil surface. If the layer of roots is damaged, for example, by a careless logging operation,there are serious results.
All rainforests receive small amounts of nutrients in rainfall.
For example, some nitrogen is converted to nitrates in thunderstorms. The amounts of other nutrients received are highest near the sea and very low a long way inland, for example in central and upper Amazonia. Litter on the forest floor must decompose before its nutrients can be used by plants. In most rainforest soils the main decomposers are invertebrates that feed on litter. Termites are a major part of the larger organisms in soil, but in montane forests earthworms replace them.