title: An empirical map of critical loads of acidity for soils in Great Britain.
abstract: The method used to produce a critical load map of acidity for soils in Great Britain is described. Critical loads were assigned to the dominant soil in each 1 km grid square of the UK national grid. Mineral soils were assigned a critical load based on mineralogy and chemistry, using approaches appropriate to UK conditions. Critical loads for peat soils are based primarily on a maximum acceptable reduction of peat pH, and results from laboratory equilibration studies. The map shows that soils with small critical loads (<0.5 kmol(c) ha(-1) year(-1)) i.e. highly sensitive to acidic deposition, dominate in the north and west of Britain; the south and east are dominated by soils with large critical loads, with small areas of more sensitive soils associated with sandy soil-forming materials. A modified critical load map illustrates the potential impact of agricultural liming on soil critical loads.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Merlewood Research Station, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JU, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hornung
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Bull
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cresser
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Langan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loveland
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith