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Abstract
Responses of juvenile white oak (Quercus albaL.) and loblolly pine (Pinus taedaL.) to simulated acid precipitation (pH 4.8, 4.2, and 3.6), as influenced by soil fertility, were examined. Height and stem diameter growth of white oak decreased with increasing rainfall acidity, although the height response was confined to the high fertility treatment, and root mass was reduced by pH 3.6 rains as well. Height and diameter growth also declined with increasing acidity in loblolly pine, and shoot and root mass and root length and specific length were reduced in low fertility by pH 3.6 rains. Direct foliar injury increased with increasing acidity in loblolly pine, but pH 3.6 rainfall stimulated mycorrhization of this species. Foliar Ca, Mg, and Cu were reduced in both species by pH 3.6 and pH 4.2 rains as was S by the former. Conversely, the Fe concentration was elevated by pH 3.6 and pH 4.2 rainfall in loblolly pine as was Zn by the former. Foliar Al increased with increasing acidity in both white oak and loblolly pine, a response partially attenuated by high soil fertility. Xylem pressure potential of loblolly pine that had received pH 3.6 rainfall declined below that of other treatments during a simulated drought episode.