Editing Amazon basin (section)

== Agriculture ==
Seasonal floods excavate and redistribute nutrient-rich silt onto beaches and islands, enabling dry-season riverside agriculture of rice, beans, and corn on the river's shoreline without the addition of fertilizer, with additional [[slash and burn]] agriculture on higher floodplains. Fishing provides additional food year-round, and [[Pastured poultry|free-range chickens]] need little or no food beyond what they can forage locally. [[Charcoal]] made largely from forest and shoreline deadfall is produced for use in urban areas. Exploitation of [[bushmeat]], particularly [[deer]] and [[turtle]]s is common.

[[File:Operação Hymenaea, Julho-2016 (29399454651).jpg|thumb|[[Deforestation]] and increased road-building bring human encroachment upon wild areas, increased resource extraction and threats to [[biodiversity]].]]
Extensive [[deforestation]], particularly in [[Brazil]], is leading to the [[extinction]] of known and unknown species, reducing [[Biodiversity|biological diversity]] and adversely impacting soil, water, and air quality. A final part of the deforestation process is the large-scale production of charcoal for industrial processes such as steel manufacturing. Soils within the region are generally shallow and cannot be used for more than a few seasons without the addition of imported fertilizers and chemicals.