TY - JOUR
T1 - Acidity of Soil and Water Decreases in Acid-Sensitive Forests of Tropical China
AU - Lie, Zhiyang
AU - Huang, Wenjuan
AU - Zhou, Guoyi
AU - Zhang, Deqiang
AU - Yan, Junhua
AU - Jiang, Jun
AU - Neilson, Roy
AU - Zhou, Shuyidan
AU - Zhang, Wanjun
AU - Ramos Aguila, Luis Carlos
AU - Chu, Guowei
AU - Liu, Shizhong
AU - Meng, Ze
AU - Zhang, Qianmei
AU - Liu, Juxiu
N1 - Copyright:
© 2023 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2023/8/1
Y1 - 2023/8/1
N2 - Acid deposition in China has been declining since the 2000s. While this may help mitigate acidification in forest soils and water, little is known about the recovery of soils and water from previous severe acidification in tropical China. Here, we assessed the chemistry of mineral soils, water, and acid gases (SO2 and NOx) from three successional forest types in tropical China from 2000 to 2022. Our results showed that soil pH increased synchronously from 3.9 (2000-2015) to 4.2 (2016-2022) across all three forest types, with exchangeable acid initially decreasing and thereafter stabilizing. Surface and ground water pH also gradually increased throughout the monitoring period. Soil pH recovery was stronger in the primary than in the planted forest. However, soil pH recovery lagged behind the increase in rainfall pH by approximately a decade. The recovery of soil pH was likely related to the positive effects of the dissolution of Al/Fe-hydroxysulfate mineral and subsequent sulfur desorption on soil acid-neutralizing capacity, increased soil organic matter, and climate warming, but was likely moderated by increased exchangeable aluminum and potentially proton-producing hydroxysulfate mineral dissolution that caused the lagged soil pH recovery. Surface and ground water pH recovery was attributed to increased water acid-neutralizing capacity. Our study reports the potential for the recovery of acidified soil and water following decreased acid deposition and provides new insights into the functional recovery of acid-sensitive forests.
AB - Acid deposition in China has been declining since the 2000s. While this may help mitigate acidification in forest soils and water, little is known about the recovery of soils and water from previous severe acidification in tropical China. Here, we assessed the chemistry of mineral soils, water, and acid gases (SO2 and NOx) from three successional forest types in tropical China from 2000 to 2022. Our results showed that soil pH increased synchronously from 3.9 (2000-2015) to 4.2 (2016-2022) across all three forest types, with exchangeable acid initially decreasing and thereafter stabilizing. Surface and ground water pH also gradually increased throughout the monitoring period. Soil pH recovery was stronger in the primary than in the planted forest. However, soil pH recovery lagged behind the increase in rainfall pH by approximately a decade. The recovery of soil pH was likely related to the positive effects of the dissolution of Al/Fe-hydroxysulfate mineral and subsequent sulfur desorption on soil acid-neutralizing capacity, increased soil organic matter, and climate warming, but was likely moderated by increased exchangeable aluminum and potentially proton-producing hydroxysulfate mineral dissolution that caused the lagged soil pH recovery. Surface and ground water pH recovery was attributed to increased water acid-neutralizing capacity. Our study reports the potential for the recovery of acidified soil and water following decreased acid deposition and provides new insights into the functional recovery of acid-sensitive forests.
KW - decreased acid deposition
KW - pH
KW - recovery
KW - aluminum
KW - soil and water acidification
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166398145&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.3c01416
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.3c01416
M3 - Article
C2 - 37471467
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 57
SP - 11075
EP - 11083
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 30
ER -