@Kinnison @LowEndMuse
Here in the East, rotting trees are a significant part of the ecosystem. In tropical climates, they are critical to maintaining rainforests -- if you have unlimited rain, sun and warmth, the limitation on growth of the forest is the fertility of the soil, which is continually being replenished by decaying vegetation. If you clear it -- as when people try to turn jungles into farms -- they find the soil is remarkably poor on its own, and it's hard to get the trees to regrow