An empirical map of critical loads of acidity for soils in Great Britain.
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.
Hornung
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Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Merlewood Research Station, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6JU, UK.
Bull
K R
KR
Cresser
M
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Hall
J
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Langan
S J
SJ
Loveland
P
P
Smith
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