Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
5 years ago

Comparative effects of simulated acid rain of different ratios of SO42− to NO3− on fine root in subtropical plantation of China

Comparative effects of simulated acid rain of different ratios of SO42− to NO3− on fine root in subtropical plantation of China
The influence of acid rain on forest trees includes direct effects on foliage as well as indirect soil-mediated effects that cause a reduction in fine-root growth. In addition, the concentration of NO3 − in acid rain increases with the rapidly growing of nitrogen deposition. In this study, we investigated the impact of simulated acid rain with different SO4 2−/NO3 − (S/N) ratios, which were 5:1 (S), 1:1 (SN) and 1:5 (N), on fine-root growth from March 2015 to February 2016. Results showed that fine roots were more sensitive to the effects of acid rain than soils in the short-term. Both soil pH and fine root biomass (FRB) significantly decreased as acid rain pH decreased, and also decreased with the percentage of NO3 − increased in acid rain. Acid rain pH significantly influenced soil total carbon and available potassium in summer. Higher acidity level (pH=2.5), especially of the N treatments, had the strongest inhibitory impact on soil microbial activity after summer. The structural equation modelling results showed that acid rain S/N ratio and pH had stronger direct effects on FRB than indirect effects via changed soil and fine root properties. Fine-root element contents and antioxidant enzymes activities were significantly affected by acid rain S/N ratio and pH during most seasons. Fine-root Al ion content, Ca/Al, Mg/Al ratios and catalase activity were used as better indicators than soil parameters for evaluating the effects of different acid rain S/N ratios and pH on forests. Our results suggest that the ratio of SO4 2− to NO3 − in acid rain is an important factor which could affect fine-root growth in subtropical forests of China.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S0048969717331327

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.