ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR FOREST EFFECTS DUE TO SOIL ACIDIFICATION IN MARYLAND

Calculations with the PROFILE model indicates that present acid deposi tion will lead to soil solution BC/Al molar ratios in the forest soils of Maryland far below the limits used for calculation of critical loa ds in Europe. Weathering rates and molar soil solution BC/Al ratios we re calculated using measured mineralogy and texture. It has been assum ed that the laboratory experiments on tree seedling response to soil s olution Al concentration is applicable to field conditions as applied in the PROFILE model and that the observed connection between growth a nd needle loss for Sweden is also valid for North America. The assumpt ions were utilized to estimate the potential for forest damage due to soil acidification in Maryland. The results for Maryland was used to s peculate over the possibilities for adverse effects due to soil acidit y in Northeastern United States. A preliminary comparison with Marylan d and European results, suggests that the threat of soil acidification to forest health in the Northeastern United States may have been unde restimated.