A ROLE FOR DECAYING LEAVES IN MITIGATING - THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF ACID-RAIN

Harmful effects of acid rain have been considered a serious problem. I n this paper we have studied the ability of several common types of le aves to mitigate the effect of acid rain via the ability of these leav es to act as buffers in water. The pH of leaf suspensions of cypress, pine, oak, cinchona and ficus leaves has been determined and its varia tion with time has been followed. The buffer capacities for these leaf suspensions have also been determined at several times over a long pe riod of time. The effect of dilution on this buffer capacity has been studied. The speeds at which the various leaf suspensions adjust their pH value when disturbed have been studied. The capability of the vari ous leaves studied here to act as a buffer can be arranged in the orde r : Ficus > cypress approximate to cinchona > pine approximate to oak.