How Does Acid Rain Affect Plants Science Fair Project

Both natural vegetation and crops are affected by acid rain.

How does acid rain affect plants science fair project. Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic. The thick haze covering the forbidden city in beijing is actually pollution which causes acid rain the amount of acid in a solution can be measured. Soil acidity affects the way plants grow beginning with their roots. Acid rain online http tgvs nws noaa gov er mhx acid htm jan 4 2000 acid rain online http www nws noaa gov er mhx acidg htm jan 11 2000 brooks john acid rain chicago illinois 1997 pp.

Acid rain is mostly caused by human emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds which react in the atmosphere to produce acids. The goals are to quantify growth of seedlings at various ph levels and to speculate about the effect of acid rain in non laboratory conditions. This project hopes to determine whether ph and by extension acid rain has any discernable effect on the germination and growth of seedlings particularly aricultural crops. Acid rain effects on plants.

Soil chemistry can be dramatically changed when base cations such as calcium and magnesium are leached by acid rain thereby affecting sensitive species such as sugar maple acer saccharum. When the ph of water decreases the acidity increases. Nutrients present in the soil are destroyed by the acidity. Rare cases have been reported of acid rain having ph of around 2 2 5.

The roots are damaged by acidic rainfall causing the growth of the plant to be stunted or even in its death. Therefore the acid rain plants withered shriveled and nearly died. Acid rain damages the leaves of trees and plants thus limiting their growth and exposing them to the metals in the air from the toxic rain. It has harmful effects on plants aquatic animals and infrastructure.

Depending on the severity of the damage the vegetation can be stunted in its growth or the foliage can be stripped away. Then the data collected would be better because it would include a more extreme treatment. Acid rain damages crops animals and buildings. The acid rain plants exhibited a dramatic physiological change because of the acidity of the water.

If i were to conduct this project again i would have additionally used an acid mixture that was twice as strong as the acid that i used. The daily watering of the plants with a low ph resulted in the leaching of vital nutrients from the soil. Effects of acid rain on plant life. In some places the acidification is so severe that the ph drops to around 4 0.