Chemical interactions of acidic precipitation and terrestrial vegetation

Conference · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

OSTI ID:5329501

Evans, L S

This paper reviews pertinent information on the chemical interaction of acidic precipitation and plant foliage. It demonstrates that acidic deposition decreases yields of field-grown soybeans, that acidic deposition decreases the protein contents of harvested seeds of some cultivars of field-grown soybeans and that these results occur without any visible foliar injury (no detectable changes in anatomy and morphology) which suggests that acidic precipitation causes these effects by altering the chemical environment. The second section describes the chemical and physical characteristics of precipitation and plant foliar surfaces, the first site of interaction between precipitation and vegetation. The third section describes the interaction of acidic precipitation and plant surfaces in terms of changes in plant surface characteristics by acidic deposition, changes in precipitation chemistry by leaf surfaces, incorporation of materials from rain into vegetation, changes in leaf cell permeability of leaves exposed to rainfall acidicty, and removal of materials from foliage by rain. Finally, this chapter will speculate on how these chemical interactions of acidic deposition and plant surfaces may account for, at least in part, the decreases in soybean seed yields and seed yield quality and possibly other vegetation effects. Hypotheses will be forwarded to test this speculation.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA). Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Div.
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5329501
• Report Number(s): BNL-38504; CONF-860774-1; ON: DE86015557
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510200* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560303 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Plants-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACID RAIN
ACIDIFICATION
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ECOSYSTEMS
FIELD TESTS
FOLIAR UPTAKE
FOOD
PLANTS
PRODUCTIVITY
RAIN
REPRODUCTION
SOYBEANS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TESTING
UPTAKE
VEGETABLES