Acidification trends in south Swedish forest soils 1986–2008 — Slow recovery and high sensitivity to sea-salt episodes

Soil water chemistry in forest soils over 20 years was studied at nine sites in southern Sweden. The aim was to investigate the recovery from acidification and the influence of strong sea salt episodes that occur in the region. All sites but one showed signs of recovery from acidification along with the reduced sulphur deposition, but the recovery progress was slow and the soil water was in most cases still highly acidic at the end of the period. In several cases the recovery was delayed by episodes of sea salt deposition, leading to transient acidification. The less marked decrease of sulphur concentrations in soil water than of sulphur deposition, highlighted the importance of sulphur adsorption/desorption in the acidification and recovery process. Nitrogen retention capacity was exceeded on one site, leading to nitrate leaching and extremely low pH. Storm fellings on two sites in the end of the period led to effects similar to those of regeneration fellings. It was concluded that the soils in the region are in an early stage of recovery. The future progress of recovery strongly depends on future nitrogen retention of forest soils and the frequency of sea salt episodes.

► Soil water chemistry trends from 1986 to 2008 in Swedish forest soils were studied.
► Recovery was slow and most sites were still acidified in the end of the period.
► Episodes of sea salt deposition led to marked but transient acidification episodes.
► Nitrification led to elevated nitrogen leaching and extremely low pH on one site.
► Soils will be acidic and sensitive to sea salt episodes for a long time to come.