In other words, deforestation lowers contents of organic matter and mineral nutrients, CEC and pH. The main reasons are: (1) Deforestation enhances loss of organic matter, because supply of organic matter in the form of litter is curtailed and decomposition of organic matter is accelerated, (2) CEC decreases in parallel with the decrease in organic matter content, because CEC is principally attributed to organic matter (Figure 5); (3) deforestation destroys the cycling of basic cations like Ca and K inside the forest by both runoff and leaching that carry away the basic cations which are supplied to the soil from the subsurface horizons through litter fall. (Figure 6). In addition, (1) main part of the soil organic matter takes the form of plant debris liable to be decomposed