STUDIES OF THE EFFECT OF SIMULATED ACID-RAIN ON THE ECOLOGICAL EQUILIBRIUM OF THE SOIL SYSTEM .5. SOIL AEROBIC METABOLISM UNDER SIMULATED ACID-RAIN CONDITIONS

Oxygen consumption as a measure of metabolic processes in the soil, ma intained in a bare fallow state, was considered as an indicator of soi l degradation under the influence of acid rain. This paper summarizes the results of experiments, both field and laboratory, with simulated acid precipitations. The reaction of soil aerobic metabolism proved as sensitive to the impact of acid introduction as the change in soil pH which had appeared earlier. The lowering of the metabolic rate is how ever not directly proportional to progressive soil acidity.