How stones affect fertility of soils?

I just moved to a house in The peruvian rain forest . The house has a small garden in The back part of The house.

There are some citricus plants, yuca, uncucha , some Verdolaga growing randomly.
Previous occupants were  using herbicides for killing weed, so most part of The soil is uncovered( without mulch).
The soil is redish , clayey,  and full of stones .

I was thinking about taking out The stones from The soil by hand but a local told me that if i do that i'm gonna affect the soil in a Bad way because he say  that in this type of soil stones affect in a positive way ( plant won't grow if i take of The stones).  I was wondering. How can this be possible? Can stones affect soil in a good way?

I live where there are lots of stones and rocks so I would say it depends.

To me, there is no reason to remove the rocks except where I want garden beds.

My soil is caliche which is crushed limestone and my rocks are limestone.

Taking the rocks out is more or less futile.

Here are some similar threads that folks might enjoy:

https://permies.com/t/85084/small-rocks-garden

https://permies.com/t/14106/Lithic-Multch-rocks

Interesting problem!

In a rain forest, I suspect adequate drainage is a very serious concern. Depending on the base soil, rocks may keep the soil from packing and forming a saturated anaerobic blob that will kill plants.

Or, it may be that rocks prevent the fertile soil from being washed away entirely in a heavy rain season.

It is also possible that the weathering effect of rain and rock might release traces of beneficial elements. Weathered rocks, carbon and organic matter are the basis of fertile soil.

I would be inclined to listen to the local wisdom, at least at the start. And of course, you can set up a small rock-free plot as a test case.

I am with Douglas on this. I have found local lore always contains at least an element of truth.

I was going to say some helpful ideas on this topic but Douglas already said them.

John S
PDX OR

Something I read, is that what makes rocks give up their nutrients to the plants, is a healthy micro organism array.

Soooo... since Ronaldo believes toxins were used on the soil, I will agree that leaving the stones may be important, but I'd also be looking for ways to support the soil. If it was me, I'd consider making biochar (known to be helpful in rain forests) and charge it in compost tea or compost piles and adding it to areas to see what effect it has.