[gorgonian]

I visited the rainforest in Brazil (Iguazú Falls / Foz do Iguaçu) a few years ago and saw literally dozens of species of butterflies of every size and color. It was truly incredible. Not to mention the falls themselves and the rest of the flora and fauna. The rainforest is amazing!

[culi]

Take a piss somewhere and wait 10 minutes. It'll be swarmed with butterflies who want the minerals you've laid out for them.

The Amazonian soil is actually extremely poor because of how much water runs through its soil. It's one of the reasons such biodiversity evolved in the first place. Poor soils favor a diversity of strategies while rich soils tend to form monocultures that quickly dominate

(Ofc terra preta, amongst other indigenous technologies, have also radically shaped the soil and its fertility)

[contingencies]

Used to be like that between Myanmar and Laos when descending the Mekong from China to Thailand. These days you'd be lucky to see one: development on both sides, particularly clear-felling for rubber (the price of which has now crashed), has totally destroyed the biodiversity.