Effects of Acid Precipitation on Cation Transport in New Hampshire Forest Soils. Technical Completion Report

摘要

This report describes the results of our investigation of the effects of regional acid precipitation on forest soils and watershed biogeochemistry in New England. The report provides descriptions of the following research findings: (1) acid precipitation may cause increased aluminum mobilization and leaching from soils to sensitive aquatic systems; (2) acid deposition may shift the historic carbonic acid/organic acid leaching regime in forest soils to one dominated by atmospheric H sub 2 SO sub 4 ; (3) acid precipitation may accelerate nutrient cation leaching from forest soils and may pose a particular threat to the potassium resources of northeastern forested ecosystems; (4) while acid rain may pass through some coniferous canopies without being neutralized, similar inputs of acid rainfall to hardwood canopies may be neutralized significantly by Bronsted base leaching and by leaf surface ion exchange mechanisms; and (5) progressive acid dissolution of soils in the laboratory may provide an important tool for predicting the patterns of aluminum leaching from soils exposed to acid deposition. (ERA citation 06:029220)