Cumulative effects of simulated acid rain on soil chemical and microbial characteristics and conifer seedling growth. [Pseudotsuga menzesii; Pinus lambertiana; Pinus ponderosa]
Effects of simulated acid rain treatments of HNO/sub 3/ and H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/, in the mole ratio of 3:1 and pH 5.6, 4.5, 4.0, and 3.0, were tested on seedlings of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzesii(Mirb.)Franco), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana Dougl.), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws) growing in A-horizon samples of two forest soils. Two wet periods of 34 and 27 weeks duration, separated by a dry period of 18 weeks, simulated climatic conditions common in the Sierra Nevada, California. Representative results are presented for soil supporting Douglas-fir, plus results of growth and shoot-N for all three species. Effects different between soils but were usually increased from one wet period to the next, and markedly decreased with soil depth. Effects commonly appeared in the pH 3.0 treatment only. Little or no effects were noted for seedling growth, visual symptoms of foliar damage, N concentration in shoots, or for the general soil microbial assays of CO/sub 2/ evolution and microbial biomass. There were notable decreases in exchangeable cations and soil pH, and increases in soil Al, Mn, Fe, and Zn. Effects on N transformations in soil were inconsistent, but in the pH 3.0 treatment there were some significant increases in mineralizable N and denitrification potential, and decreases in nitrification potential. Similar results were obtained for N transformations in one of the same forest soils supporting ponderosa pine in an earlier experiment of only 12 weeks duration, but at greater acidity of pH 2.0.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Berkeley
- OSTI ID:
- 6078407
- Journal Information:
- Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.; (United States), Vol. 51:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACID RAIN
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ACIDIFICATION
ALUMINIUM
BIOMASS
CATIONS
ION EXCHANGE
IRON
LEACHING
MANGANESE
NITRIC ACID
NITROGEN
PH VALUE
PLANT GROWTH
SEEDLINGS
SOILS
SULFURIC ACID
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
ZINC
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
DISSOLUTION
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
GROWTH
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
IONS
METALS
NONMETALS
RAIN
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
510200* - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology