Acid deposition may stunt forest growth, leach calcium, Hubbard Brook researchers report
Renner, R.
Environmental Science and Technology 30: 9A-240A
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0013-936X Document Number: 243773
At Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, ecologists have commenced new long-term studies to test the theory that acid precipitation-induced leaching of calcium inhibits growth of a deciduous forest. In the April 12 Science, researchers analyzing 30 years of Hubbard Brook data reported that much of the available calcium in the soil of the experimental forest had been leached out and washed away in streams. In addition, the forest had surprisingly stopped growing since 1987, which the researchers conjectured was possibly due to the lack of available calcium. The new studies at Hubbard Brook involve adding easily assimilated calcium to soils to evaluate whether growth rates can be increased.