Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem

Likens, Gene E.; Bormann, Franz–Josef

doi:10.1126/science.184.4142.1176

Cited by 603 publications

(231 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…9). tested to include the two major mineral acids found in acidic precipitation (20). The inclusion of HNO3 also permits additional investigation of the effects of the added nitrate on acetylene reduction.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few data are available on plant availability of these elements, but up to 961 ,ug Cu2+/g has been estimated to be available to plants near a copper smelter in south central Montana by ammonium acetate extraction (11). Acid rains capable of causing the effects reported here are rare, but Likens and Bormann (20) have reported an event of pH 2.1 in the northeastern United States. Large areas may also be affected by these pollutants depending on wind direction and speed.…”

Section: N2mentioning

confidence: 98%

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Inhibition of Nitrogen Fixation in Alfalfa by Arsenate, Heavy Metals, Fluoride, and Simulated Acid Rain

Porter¹,

Sheridan²

1981

Plant Physiol.

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The acute effects of aqueous solutions of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, F, and Zn ions at concentrations from 0.01 to 100 micrograms per milliliter and solutions adjusted to pH 2 to 6 with nitric or sulfuric acid were studied with respect to acetylene reduction, net photosynthesis, respiration rate, and chlorophyll content in Vernal alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. cv. Vernal). The effects of the various treatments on acetylene reduction varied from no demonstrable effect by any concentration of F-and 42% inhibition by 100 micrograms Pb2+ per milliliter, to 100% inhibition by 10 micrograms Cd2" per milliliter and 100 micrograms per milliliter As, Cu21, and Zn2+ ions. Zn2+ showed statistically significant inhibition of activity at 0.1 micrograms per milliliter. Acid treatments were not inhibitory above pH 2, at which pH nitric acid inhibited acetylene reduction activity more than did sulfuric acid. The inhibition of acetylene reduction by these ions was Zn2+ > Cd2" > Cu2+ > AsOs-> Pb2+ > F-. The sensitivity of acetylene reduction to the ions was roughly equal to the sensitivity of photosynthesis, respiration, and chlorophyll content when Pb2+ was applied, but was 1,000 times more sensitive to Zn2+. The relationship of the data to field conditions and industrial pollution is discussed.by treatment with 18 ltM Cd2+. The latter of these two reports includes preliminary data from the study reported here and includes the effects of a variety of pollutants on a cyanobacterium (Anabaena sp), soybeans (Glycine max L. cv. Kent), yellow sweetclover (Melilotus officinalis L.), and two "species" of lichen (Col-

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: N2mentioning

confidence: 98%

Inhibition of Nitrogen Fixation in Alfalfa by Arsenate, Heavy Metals, Fluoride, and Simulated Acid Rain

Porter¹,

Sheridan²

1981

Plant Physiol.

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“…But in the 1970s the effects of long-range transport of pollutants shifted the focus to a larger scale. There was then widespread evidence of regional acidification of surface water, affecting the most sensitive lacustrine areas in the Northern Hemisphere: the Precambrian Shields of Canada and Scandinavia (Gorham et al 1986;Odén and Ahl 1979;Likens and Bormann 1974). During the 1980s, on the basis of the scientific studies carried out in the previous years, it was generally accepted that human emissions were producing significant acidification of fresh waters (Schindler et al 1985) and might be a factor contributing to forest dieback (Pitelka and Raynal 1989) on a regional scale.…”

Section: Surface Waters Acidificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric Chemical Loadings in the High Mountain: Current Forcing and Legacy Pollution

Camarero

2017

High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World

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Human emissions have changed the chemistry of atmosphere. Potentially toxic chemicals have been spread, and the global cycles of some key elements have been disrupted. Because enhanced atmospheric precipitation and cold trapping caused by elevation, high mountain ecosystems are considered as regional convergence areas of atmospheric pollutants. In this chapter, research on surface waters acidification, pollution by trace elements, and atmospheric nutrient inputs in the Pyrenees is reviewed. Pyrenean lakes have experienced only a moderate acidification, due partly to an also moderate acid load and partly to the neutralising cations carried by dust. Presently, declining concentrations of sulphate in lakes indicate that recovery is proceeding. Pollution by trace elements dates more than two millennia back. The primary accumulation sites are the sediments of lakes. Soils also hold an important burden, and there is evidence that some elements are being currently remobilised. This is causing a delayed pollution, despite deposition of several trace metals is declining. The emissions of artificial reactive nitrogen have caused increased deposition on the Pyrenean catchments, which are thus nitrogen saturated. A parallel increase of phosphorus deposition has occurred, likely caused by climatic reasons. The combined effect of both seems to be an enhanced uptake of nitrogen by phytoplankton causing a lower nitrogen concentration in lakes and a possible shift from phosphorus-to-nitrogen limitation of phytoplankton growth, as well as an incipient eutrophication. All these are examples of impacts in remote natural areas that require a global strategy of conservation beyond the boundaries of the ecosystems affected.

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“…Much of the research on ecosystem sulfur sources and biogeochemistry has focused upon sites impacted by anthropogenic sulfur deposition and ecosystem acidification because this was a widespread problem, though it is now generally declining (Houle and Carignan, 1992;Likens and Bormann, 1974;Mitchell et al, 2001;Novák et al, 1996). Less research has been done on sulfur sources in relatively unpolluted ecosystems (Yi-Balan et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steep spatial gradients of volcanic and marine sulfur in Hawaiian rainfall and ecosystems

Bern

Chadwick

Kendall

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

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• Sources of sulfur in Hawaiian ecosystems were investigated via sulfur isotopes.• Basalt, sea-salt, volcanic and marine biogenic emissions have distinct isotope ratios.• Atmospheric deposition sources of sulfur dominated all but one site investigated.• Steep gradients of marine vs. volcanic atmospheric deposition were found.• Gradients occurred with distance to the coast and elevation. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Sulfur, a nutrient required by terrestrial ecosystems, is likely to be regulated by atmospheric processes in welldrained, upland settings because of its low concentration in most bedrock and generally poor retention by inorganic reactions within soils. Environmental controls on sulfur sources in unpolluted ecosystems have seldom been investigated in detail, even though the possibility of sulfur limiting primary production is much greater where atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic sulfur is low. Here we measure sulfur isotopic compositions of soils, vegetation and bulk atmospheric deposition from the Hawaiian Islands for the purpose of tracing sources of ecosystem sulfur. Hawaiian lava has a mantle-derived sulfur isotopic composition (δ 34 S VCDT) of − 0.8‰. Bulk deposition on the island of Maui had a δ 34 S VCDT that varied temporally, spanned a range from +8.2 to + 19.7‰, and reflected isotopic mixing from three sources: sea-salt (+ 21.1‰), marine biogenic emissions (+ 15.6‰), and volcanic emissions from active vents on Kilauea Volcano (+ 0.8‰). A straightforward, weathering-driven transition in ecosystem sulfur sources could be interpreted in the shift from relatively low (0.0 to +2.7‰) to relatively high (+17.8 to +19.3‰) soil δ 34 S values along a 0.3 to 4100 ka soil age-gradient, and similar patterns in associated vegetation. However, sub-kilometer scale spatial variation in soil sulfur isotopic composition was found along soil transects assumed by age and mass balance to be dominated by atmospheric sulfur inputs. Soil sulfur isotopic compositions ranged from +8.1 to +20.3‰ and generally decreased with increasing elevation (0-2000 m), distance from the coast (0-12 km), and annual rainfall (180-5000 mm). Such trends reflect the spatial variation in marine versus volcanic inputs from atmospheric deposition. Broadly, these results illustrate how the sources and magnitude of atmospheric deposition can exert controls over ecosystem sulfur biogeochemistry across relatively small spatial scales.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem

Cited by 603 publications

References 21 publications

Inhibition of Nitrogen Fixation in Alfalfa by Arsenate, Heavy Metals, Fluoride, and Simulated Acid Rain

Inhibition of Nitrogen Fixation in Alfalfa by Arsenate, Heavy Metals, Fluoride, and Simulated Acid Rain

Atmospheric Chemical Loadings in the High Mountain: Current Forcing and Legacy Pollution

Steep spatial gradients of volcanic and marine sulfur in Hawaiian rainfall and ecosystems

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