Abstract
Soil acidification has been of concern in the oil sands region in Alberta due to increased acid deposition. Using the canopy budget model, and accounting for H + canopy leaching by organic acids, we determined sources and sinks of H + in throughfall in jack pine ( Pinus banksiana) and trembling aspen ( Populus tremuloides) stands in two watersheds from 2006 to 2009. In pine stands, H + deposition was greater in throughfall than in bulk precipitation while the opposite was true in aspen stands. The annual H + interception deposition was 148.8–193.8 and 49.7–70.0 mol c ha −1 in pine and aspen stands, respectively; while the annual H + canopy leaching was 127.1–128.7 and 0.0–6.0 mol c ha −1, respectively. The greater H + supply in pine stands was caused by greater interception deposition of SO 4 2− and organic acids released from the pine canopy. Such findings have significant implications for establishing critical loads for various ecosystems in the oil sands region.
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