Abstract
Acidity budgets for an artificially acidified and an unacidified peatland in mid-continental North America are dominated by the production and export of organic acids. A fraction (about 50%) of these acids are neutralized by alkalinity from atmospheric deposition and upland run-off. The acid applied to the experimentally acidified site is neutralized by uptake of nitrate and sulfate. Short-term measurements show that nitrate is taken up rapidly in surface layers of moss while sulfate penetrates more deeply into the peat. Sulfate retention within the two sites ranges from 56 to 70% on an annual basis. Stripping of basic cations is shown to result from acid application to base-rich peat. These results suggest that short-term effects of acid deposition on peatlands will be slight, but long-term site acidification is possible.
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Urban, N.R., Bayley, S.E. The acid-base balance of peatlands: a short-term perspective. Water Air Soil Pollut 30, 791–800 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303345
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00303345