Effects of acid deposition on agricultural production

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:6039921

Moskowitz, P D; Medeiros, W H; Oden, N L; Thode, Jr, H C; Coveney, E A; Jacobson, J S; Rosenthal, R E; Evans, L S; Lewin, K F; Allen, F L

A preliminary assessment, both qualitative and quantitative, was carried out on the effects of acid deposition on agriculture. An inventory was made of US crops exposed to different acid deposition levels in 1982. Most crops (valued at more than $50 billion) were exposed to annual average acid deposition levels greater than pH 4.6, but crops worth more than $220 billion were exposed to even lower pH levels. Published results of experiments on crop response to acid deposition have not identified any single crop as being consistently sensitive, and suggest that present levels of acidic precipitation in the US are not significantly affecting growth and yield of crops. Because relatively few experiments appropriate to a quantitative acid deposition assessment have been conducted, the quantitative section is necessarily based on a restricted data set. Corn, potatoes, and soybeans have been studied in experimental environments which simulate agronomic conditions and which have adequate statistical power for yield estimates; only some varieties of soybeans have demonstrated statistically significant sensitivity to acid deposition.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 6039921
• Report Number(s): BNL-51889; ON: DE86006756
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
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
AGRICULTURE
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CEREALS
CROPS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECOSYSTEMS
FOOD
GRASS
INDUSTRY
MAIZE
NAPAP
PLANTS
POTATOES
PRODUCTIVITY
RAIN
SOILS
SOYBEANS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TUBERS
VEGETABLES