HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Banwart, W. L. Articles by Hassett, J. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Banwart, W. L. Articles by Hassett, J. J. Agricola Articles by Banwart, W. L. Articles by Hassett, J. J.

Sensitivity of Twenty Soybean Cultivars to Simulated Acid Rain

Dep. of Agronomy, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Efforts to assess the effect of acid rain on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] have shown variable results. Simulated acid rain has been reported to cause increases, decreases, and no significant effect on yield. Although few parameters were identical among the diverse studies reported in the literature, one common difference was the choice of cultivar. In this study, 20 soybean cultivars were screened to determine their relative sensitivity to simulated acid rain. Soybean was grown in 1984, 1985, and 1986 in field plots in east central Illinois. Plots were protected from ambient rain and treated twice weekly with simulated rain of pH 5.6 (control) or pH 3.0. Early in each growing season visible leaf injury was noted for all 20 cultivars, and level of injury was significantly higher for plants receiving the more acidic treatment (pH 3.0). Average yield for the 20 cultivars was approximately the same when plants were treated with simulated rain of pH 3.0 as when plants were treated with stimulated rain of pH 5.6. Over all 3 yr, the group V cultivars Essex and Forrest yielded more grain and had more chaff dry matter, pods per hectare, and pods per plant with the more acidic pH treatment than with the control treatment. Only ‘Williams 82’ yielded significantly less with the more acidic pH treatment than with the control treatment. The results suggest soybean cultivars may respond differently to applications of highly acidified rainfall, but none of the cultivars tested were extremely sensitive to growth and yield reduction.

Contributions (in part) from CSRS special grants for Acid Deposition Research Program (SGP-004-1983) and USDA grant 85-CRC-1-1785.

Received for publication May 4, 1989.