Effects of simulated acid rain on yield response of two soybean cultivars
Field experiments were conducted for 3 yrs. to determine the effects of simulated acid rain on seed yield of two soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) cultivars, 'Amsoy 71' and 'Williams 82'. Plants were treated biweekly with simulated rain of pH 5.6, 4.6, 4.2, 3.8, 3.4, and 3.0. For Amsoy 71 there was a linear decrease in yield with increasing rainfall acidity for 1 of 3 yrs but no significant effects for the other two. Thus, acid rain appears to reduce the yield of some soybean cultivars slightly, but this effect is not consistent from year to year. Amsoy 71 and Williams 82 soybean treated with the most-acidic rain, pH 3.0, resulted in average yields for the 3 yrs of the study of approximately 3% and 4% lower than the average yields for the other treatments, respectively. However, calculations from the response functions developed have shown that, at current levels of rainfall acidities, the effects on yield are very small. With an increase in rainfall acidity of 50% in Illinois, the predicted yield decrease for Amsoy 71 and Williams 82 soybean would be less than 1%. Similarly, the expected increase in yield of these cultivars would be 1% or less if acidity in the rainfall were reduced by 50%. While there may be beneficial effects of reduced S and N oxide emissions, these results suggest the resultant lower rainfall acidities are not likely to produce noticeable changes in soybean yields.
- Research Organization:
- Illinois Univ., Urbana, IL (USA). Dept. of Agronomy
- OSTI ID:
- 5182295
- Report Number(s):
- PB-90-103102/XAB
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Pub. in Jnl. of Environmental Quality, Vol. 16, No. 4, 433-437(Oct-Dec 1987). See also PB--86-103132
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACID RAIN
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
GLYCINE HISPIDA
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
SOYBEANS
YIELDS
CROPS
GREENHOUSES
NITRATES
PH VALUE
SIMULATION
SULFATES
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BUILDINGS
FOOD
LEGUMINOSAE
MAGNOLIOPHYTA
MAGNOLIOPSIDA
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
RAIN
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
VEGETABLES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
540120 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)