scholarly journals Recovery from acidification of lakes in Finland, Norway and Sweden 1990–1999

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Skjelkvåle ◽  
J. Mannio ◽  
A. Wilander ◽  
T. Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Base Cations ◽  
Strong Acid ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Sulphur Deposition ◽  
Ionic Strength Effect ◽  
National Monitoring ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
A Minor

Abstract. Sulphate deposition has decreased by about 60% in the Nordic countries since the early 1980s. Nitrogen deposition has been roughly constant during the past 20 years, with only a minor decrease in the late 1990s. The resulting changes in the chemistry of small lakes have been followed by national monitoring programmes initiated in the 1980s in Finland (163 lakes), Norway (100 lakes) and Sweden (81 lakes). These lakes are partly a subset from the survey of 5690 lakes in the Northern European lake survey of 1995. Trend analyses on data for the period 1990-1999 show that the non-marine sulphate concentrations in lakes have decreased significantly in 69% of the monitored lakes. Changes were largest in lakes with the highest mean concentrations. Nitrate concentrations, on the other hand, were generally low and showed no systematic changes. Concentrations of non-marine base cations decreased in 26% of the lakes, most probably an ionic-strength effect due to the lower concentrations of mobile strong-acid anions. Acid neutralising capacity increased in 32% of the lakes. Trends in recovery were in part masked by large year-to-year variations in sea-salt inputs and by increases in total organic carbon concentrations. These changes were most probably the result of climatic variations. Nordic lakes, therefore, show clear signs of recovery from acidification. Recovery began in the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s. Reductions in sulphur deposition are the major "driving force" in the process of recovery from acidification. Further recovery can be expected in the next 10 years if the Gothenburg protocol on emissions of acidifying pollutants is implemented. Keywords: Nordic countries, sulphur deposition, lakes, recovery

scholarly journals Recovery from acidification of lochs in Galloway, south-west Scotland, UK: 1979-1998

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Ferrier ◽  
R. C. Helliwell ◽  
B. J. Cosby ◽  
A. Jenkins ◽  
R. F. Wright
Keyword(s):  
General Pattern ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Sea Salts ◽  
South West ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Chloride Concentrations

Abstract. The Galloway region of south-west Scotland has historically been subject to long-term deposition of acidic precipitation which has resulted in acidification of soils and surface waters and subsequent damage to aquatic ecology. Since the end of the 1970s, however, acidic deposition has decreased substantially. The general pattern is for a rapid decline in non-marine sulphate in rainwater over the period 1978-1988 followed by stable concentrations to the mid-1990s. Concentrations of nitrate and ammonium in deposition have remained constant between 1980 and 1998. Seven water quality surveys of 48 lochs in the Galloway region have been conducted between 1979 and 1998. During the first 10 years, from 1979, there was a major decline in regional sulphate concentrations in the lochs, which was expected to have produced a decline in base cations and an increase in the acid neutralising capacity. But sea-salt levels (as indicated by chloride concentrations) were approximately 25% higher in 1988 than in 1979 and thus short-term acidification due to sea-salts offset much of the long-term recovery trend expected in the lochs. During the next 10 years, however, the chloride concentrations returned to 1979 levels and the lochs showed large increases in acid neutralising capacity despite little change in sulphate concentrations. From the observed decline in sulphate deposition and concentrations of sulphate in the lochs, it appears that approximately 75% of the possible improvement in acid neutralising capacity has already occurred over the 20-year period (1979-1998). The role of acid deposition as a driving factor for change in water chemistry in the Galloway lochs is confounded by concurrent changes in other driving variables, most notably, factors related to episodic and year-to-year variations in climate. In addition to inputs of sea-salts, climate probably also influences other chemical signals such as peaks in regional nitrate concentrations and the sharp increase in dissolved organic carbon during the 1990s. Keywords: acidification, recovery, Galloway, sulphur, nitrogen

scholarly journals Norwegian lakes show widespread recovery from acidification; results from national surveys of lakewater chemistry 1986-1997

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Skjelkvåle ◽  
R. F. Wright ◽  
A. Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
Base Cations ◽  
Chemical Recovery ◽  
N Leaching ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Western Norway ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Lakewater Chemistry ◽  
Southern Norway ◽  
Eastern Norway

Abstract. Surveys of 485 lakes in Norway conducted in 1986 and again in 1995 reveal widespread chemical recovery from acidification. Sulphate concentrations in lakes have decreased by 40% in acidified areas in southern Norway. This decrease has been compensated about 25% by decreases in concentrations of base cations and of 75% by increased Acid Neutralising Capacity (ANC). The increased ANC in turn reflects lower concentrations of acidic cations Aluminum (ALn+) and Hydrogen (H+). A sub-set of 78 of the 485 lakes sampled yearly between 1986 and 1997 shows that, at first most of the decrease in non-marine sulphate (SO4*) was compensated by a decrease in base cations, such that ANC remained unchanged. Then as SO4* continued to decrease, the concentrations of non- marine calcium and magnesium ((Ca+Mg)*) levelled out. Consequently, ANC increased, and H+ and Aln+ started to decrease. In eastern Norway, this shift occurred in 1989–90, and came slightly later in southern and western Norway. Similar shifts in trends in about 1991–92 can also be seen in the non-acidified areas in central and northern Norway. This shift in trends is not as pronounced in western Norway, perhaps because of the confounding influence of sea-salt episodes on water chemistry. This is the first documented national-scale recovery from acidification due to reduced acid deposition. Future climate warming and potentially increased N-leaching can counteract the positive trends in recovery from acidification.

Chemical composition of the Tatra Mountain lakes: Recovery from acidification

Biologia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Kopáček ◽  
Evžen Stuchlík ◽  
David Hardekopf
Keyword(s):  
Base Cations ◽  
Water Recovery ◽  
Total Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Alpine Zone ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Forest Lakes ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Regional Basis ◽  
The Tatra Mountains ◽  
Norway Spruce Forest

AbstractNinety-one lakes distributed along the Tatra Mountains (most of lakes > 1 ha and 65% of lakes > 0.01 ha) were sampled and analysed for ionic and nutrient composition in September 2004 (15 years after reduction in acid deposition). Eighty-one lakes were in alpine zone and ten lakes in Norway spruce forest. The results were compared to similar lake surveys from 1994 (the beginning of water recovery from acidification) and 1984 (maximum acidification). Atmospheric deposition of SO42− and inorganic N decreased 57% and 35%, respectively, in this region from the late 1980s to 2000. Lake water concentrations of SO42− and NO3− have decreased both by ∼50% on average (to 23 and 19 μmol L−1, respectively, in 2004) since 1984. While the decrease in SO42− concentrations was stable throughout 1984–2004, most of the NO3− decrease occurred from 1994 to 2004. The declines in SO42− and NO3− concentrations depended on catchment coverage with vegetation, being most rapid for SO42− in forest lakes and for NO3− in rocky lakes. Concentrations of the sum of base cations (dominated by Ca2+) significantly decreased between 1984 and 2004, with the highest change in rocky lakes. Most of this decline occurred between 1994 and 2004. Acid neutralising capacity (ANC) did not change in the 1984–1994 period, but increased on average by 29 μmol L−1 between 1994 and 2004, with the highest change in rocky lakes. Over the last decade, the proportion of lakes with ANC > 150 μmol L−1 increased from 15% to 21% and that of ANC < 20 μmol L−1 decreased from 37% to 20%. The highest decline in H+ and Al concentrations occurred in the most acid lakes. On a regional basis, no significant change was observed for total phosphorus, total organic nitrogen, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the 1994–2004 period. However, these parameters increased in forest lakes, which exhibited an increasing trend in DOC concentrations, inversely related (P < 0.001) to their decreasing ionic strength (30% on average in 1994–2004).

scholarly journals Climate change as a confounding factor in reversibility of acidification: RAIN and CLIMEX projects

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Wright ◽  
A. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Recovery From Acidification

Abstract. The RAIN and CLIMEX experiments at Risdalsheia, southernmost Norway, together cover 17 years (1984-2000) of whole-catchment manipulation of acid deposition and climate. A 1200 m2 roof placed over the forest canopy at KIM catchment excluded about 80% of ambient acid deposition; clean rain was sprinkled under the roof. A climate change treatment (3.7°C increase in air temperature and increase in air carbon dioxide concentrations to 560 ppmv) was superimposed on the clean rain treatment for four years (1995-1998). Sea-salt inputs and temperature are climate-related factors that influence water chemistry and can confound long-term trends caused by changes in deposition of sulphur and nitrogen. The RAIN and CLIMEX experiments at Risdalsheia provided direct experimental data that allow quantitative assessment of these factors. Run-off chemistry responded rapidly to the decreased acid deposition. Sulphate concentrations decreased by 50% within three years; nitrate and ammonium concentrations decreased to new steady-state levels within the first year. Acid neutralising capacity increased and hydrogen ion and inorganic aluminium decreased. Similar recovery from acidification was also observed at the reference catchment, ROLF, in response to the general 50% reduction in sulphate deposition over southern Norway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Variations in sea-salt deposition caused large variations in run-off chemistry at the reference catchment ROLF and the year-to-year noise in acid neutralising capacity was as large as the overall trend over the period. These variations were absent at KIM catchment because the sea-salt inputs were held constant over the entire 17 years of the clean rain treatment. The climate change experiment at KIM catchment resulted in increased leaching of inorganic nitrogen, probably due to increased mineralisation and nitrification rates in the soils. Keywords: acid deposition, global change, water, soil, catchment, experiment, Norway.

scholarly journals Recovery from acidification in European surface waters

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Evans ◽  
J. M. Cullen ◽  
C. Alewell ◽  
J. Kopácek ◽  
A. Marchetto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Water Quality Data ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
The Uk

Abstract. Water quality data for 56 long-term monitoring sites in eight European countries are used to assess freshwater responses to reductions in acid deposition at a large spatial scale. In a consistent analysis of trends from 1980 onwards, the majority of surface waters (38 of 56) showed significant (p ≤0.05) decreasing trends in pollution-derived sulphate. Only two sites showed a significant increase. Nitrate, on the other hand, had a much weaker and more varied pattern, with no significant trend at 35 of 56 sites, decreases at some sites in Scandinavia and Central Europe, and increases at some sites in Italy and the UK. The general reduction in surface water acid anion concentrations has led to increases in acid neutralising capacity (significant at 27 of 56 sites) but has also been offset in part by decreases in base cations, particularly calcium (significant at 26 of 56 sites), indicating that much of the improvement in runoff quality to date has been the result of decreasing ionic strength. Increases in acid neutralising capacity have been accompanied by increases in pH and decreases in aluminium, although fewer trends were significant (pH 19 of 56, aluminium 13 of 53). Increases in pH appear to have been limited in some areas by rising concentrations of organic acids. Within a general trend towards recovery, some inter-regional variation is evident, with recovery strongest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, moderate in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, and apparently weakest in Germany. Keywords: acidification, recovery, European trends, sulphate, nitrate, acid neutralising capacity

scholarly journals Long-term changes in acidification and recovery at nine calibrated catchments in Norway, Sweden and Finland

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Moldan ◽  
R. F. Wright ◽  
S. Löfgren ◽  
M. Forsius ◽  
T. Ruoho-Airola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Deposition ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
General Picture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Acid Neutralising Capacity ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
Sulphate Deposition

Abstract. International agreements to reduce the emissions of acidifying pollutants have resulted in major changes in deposition of sulphur and nitrogen in southern Scandinavia over the past 25 years. Long-term monitoring of deposition and run-off chemistry over the past 12-25 years at nine small calibrated catchments in Finland, Norway and Sweden provide the basis for analysis of trends with special attention to recovery in response to decreased sulphur and nitrogen deposition in the 1980s and 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s sulphate deposition in the region decreased by 30 to 60%, whereas inorganic nitrogen deposition showed very little change until the mid-1990s. Deposition of non-marine base cations (especially calcium) declined in the 1990s most markedly in southern Finland. Run-off response to these changes in deposition has been rapid and clear at the nine catchments. Sulphate and base cations (mostly calcium) concentrations declined and acid neutralising capacity increased. Occasional years with unusually high inputs of sea-salt confound the general trends. Trends at all the catchments show the same general picture as that from small lakes in Scandinavia and in acid-sensitive waters elsewhere in Europe. Keywords: acidification, recovery, Scandinavia, catchment, trend analysis

scholarly journals Land use influences on acidification and recovery of freshwaters in Galloway, south-west Scotland

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Helliwell ◽  
R. C. Ferrier ◽  
L. Johnston ◽  
J. Goodwin ◽  
R. Doughty
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
Chemical Recovery ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
Sulphur Deposition ◽  
South West ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Acid Status ◽  
Annual Discharge

Abstract. The long term response of surface waters to changes in sulphur deposition and afforestation is investigated for three upland river systems in the Galloway region of south-west Scotland. From 1984-1999, these rivers exhibited a statistically significant decline in non-marine sulphate concentrations in response to reduced acid deposition. This reduction in non-marine sulphate was, however, insufficient to induce a pH recovery over the period. A statistically significant increase in river pH was observed between 1956-1970 (0.05 yr-1) when subsidised agricultural lime payments were at a maximum. In 1976, this subsidy ceased and surface waters have progressively acidified. In addition, climatic change is found to influence long-term trends in pH. Mean annual pH was greatest during a dry period between 1969-1973 when total annual discharge was low. Thereafter, pH declined gradually in response to higher rainfall and increased total annual discharge. Overall, surface waters draining the afforested catchments of the Rivers Cree and Bladnoch are more acid than those draining the moorland catchment of the Luce. These results indicate that in afforested catchments, current reductions in sulphur emissions have not led to an observed improvement in the acid status of surface waters. Forestry, therefore, represents a confounding factor with regard to chemical recovery from acidification in this region. Keywords: acidification, afforestation, deposition, rivers, lochs, non-marine sulphate, pH

RAIN Project: Results after 8 Years of Experimentally Reduced Acid Deposition to a Whole Catchment

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Wright ◽  
Erik Lotse ◽  
Arne Semb
Keyword(s):  
Acid Deposition ◽  
Soil Chemistry ◽  
Nitrogen Saturation ◽  
Base Cations ◽  
Strong Acid ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Exclusion Experiment ◽  
Surface Water Chemistry ◽  
Southern Norway

At Risdalsheia (southern Norway), an ongoing catchment-scale acid-exclusion experiment has been conducted since 1984 as part of the RAIN project (Reversing Acidification In Norway). Acid precipitation is collected on a 1200-m2 transparent roof, treated by ion exchange, sea salts readded, and reapplied as clean rain beneath the roof Up to 1990 annual surveys of soil chemistry have revealed no significant trends. The chemical composition of runoff has changed: sulfate decreased from about 111 μeq/L in 1984 to 38 μeq/L in 1992 and nitrate from about 33 to 5 μeq/L. Base cations decreased and alkalinity increased over the 8-yr period from −88 to −29 μeq/L to compensate for this change in strong acid anions. Much of the alkalinity change is due to the increased role of organic anions. The results fit an empirical nomograph relating alkalinity, base cations, and strong acid anions and a new empirical nomograph relating alkalinity, H+, and total organic carbon. The acid-exclusion experiment provides the first catchment-scale evidence for the reversibility of nitrogen saturation; RAIN results corroborate field observations of changes in surface water chemistry in response to reduced acid deposition as well as process-oriented, conceptual acidification models.

scholarly journals Response of sulphur dynamics in European catchments to decreasing sulphate deposition

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Prechtel ◽  
C. Alewell ◽  
M. Armbruster ◽  
J. Bittersohl ◽  
J. M. Cullen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Sulphur Deposition ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Sulphate Deposition ◽  
Long Term Trends

Abstract. Following the decline in sulphur deposition in Europe, sulphate dynamics of catchments and the reversibility of anthropogenic acidification of soils and freshwaters became of major interest. Long-term trends in sulphate concentrations and fluxes in precipitation/throughfall and freshwaters of 20 European catchments were analysed to evaluate catchment response to decreasing sulphate deposition. Sulphate deposition in the catchments studied declined by 38-82% during the last decade. Sulphate concentrations in all freshwaters decreased significantly, but acidification reversal was clearly delayed in the German streams. In Scandinavian streams and Czech/Slovakian lakes sulphate concentrations responded quickly to decreased input. Sulphate fluxes in run-off showed no clear trend in Germany and Italy but decreased in Scandinavia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The decrease, however, was less than the decline in input fluxes. While long-term sulphate output fluxes from catchments were generally correlated to input fluxes, most catchments started a net release of sulphate during the early 1990s. Release of stored sulphate leads to a delay of acidification reversal and can be caused by four major processes. Desorption and excess mineralisation were regarded as the most important for the catchments investigated, while oxidation and weathering were of lesser importance for the long-term release of sulphate. Input from weathering has to be considered for the Italian catchments. Sulphate fluxes in German catchments, with deeply weathered soils and high soil storage capacity, responded more slowly to decreased deposition than catchments in Scandinavia and the Czech Republic/Slovakia, which have thin soils and relatively small sulphate storage. For predictions of acidification reversal, soil characteristics, sulphur pools and their dynamics have to be evaluated in future research. Keywords: acidification reversal, sulphur, sulphate release, Europe, catchments, deposition, lake, stream

scholarly journals Interpretation of trends in acidic deposition and surface water chemistry in Scotland during the past three decades

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Harriman ◽  
A. W. Watt ◽  
A. E. G. Christie ◽  
P. Collen ◽  
D. W. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acidic Deposition ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Sulphur Deposition ◽  
Surface Water Chemistry ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recovery From Acidification ◽  
Ionic Components ◽  
Carbon Concentrations

Abstract. Trends in major ionic components of bulk precipitation were analysed for two sites, Faskally and Loch Ard forest in Scotland, for the period 1972-2000. The pattern of change was not linear. Large reductions in sulphur deposition occurred in the early 1980s and, to a lesser extent, during 1995-2000, with a period of relative stability between 1988-95. pH increased significantly at both sites but nitrate and ammonia only increased significantly at Loch Ard forest. Long-term chemical data from a total of 37 streams and lochs in four selected regions of Scotland were analysed over three time periods (all available data (mostly 1978-2000), 1988-98 and 1995-2000) to match the deposition patterns. For the whole study period a significant decline in non-marine sulphate was found at all sites while the most consistent increases in pH and alkalinity were recorded at all the high elevation loch sites in the Galloway area. Significant reductions in toxic forms of aluminium were also recorded, mostly at sites where pH had increased. Nitrate trends were equivocal except for catchments with clear-felling operations. For these sites, negative trends were found where felling occurred in the 1980s, while positive trends were found at sites with felling in the 1990s. With the exception of one site, dissolved organic carbon concentrations increased significantly with moorland sites showing smaller increases than forested sites. Associated with this change was a significant increase in complexed forms of aluminium. Trends for the 1988-98 period were much smaller than those for the whole study period and in many cases were insignificant. This contrasts with the 1995-2000 period when large and significant reductions in sulphate and nitrate were recorded along with increases in marine salts, probably as a result of climatically related events. Qualitative, experimental and monitoring data from lochs in the Galloway area revealed evidence of recovery of fish populations. Interpretation of chemical and biological trends was clearly influenced by the choice of the time series, especially in relation to deposition and climatic changes. Nevertheless, all the fresh waters included in this study are currently in the best ecological condition since the 1970s in the context of recovery from acidification. Keywords: deposition, trends, acidification, forestry, recovery, fish, climate

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