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ACID PRECIPITATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
Citation:
Cowling, E. ACID PRECIPITATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/D-86/166.
Description:
Man-induced change in the chemical climate of the earth has increased. Recent research has demonstrated that atmospheric deposition contains both beneficial nutrients and injurious substances; plants, animals, and ecosystems vary greatly in susceptibility; injury is most likely when rapid changes in the chemical climate coincide with the presence of a vulnerable life form; increasing acidity of precipitation has caused extinction of fish and other changes in species composition, simulated acid rain has caused leaching of nutrients from soil and both direct and indirect injury to terrestrial vegetation. Results show why a National Atmospheric Deposition Program is currently being developed to determine spacial and temporal trends.