TITLE	Characteristics of the acidic environment of the Yuanyang Lake (Taiwan)
AUTHOR	Jiunn-Tzong Wu Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan Shih-Chieh Chang Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan Yun-Sen Wang Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan Yu-Fa Wang Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan Ming-Kuang Hsu Section of Biology, Provincial Museum, Taipei 101, Taiwan
FULL TEXT	[in HTML format] [in PDF format]
ABSTRACT	Yuanyang Lake is an acidic alpine lake located in northern Taiwan. The lake's acidity displays both spatial and temporal variations and is correlated with concentrations of organic and inorganic carbon, and with some cations in the lake water. The factors relating to such characteristics were studied, with particular focus on acid precipitation and the role of biological communities in the watershed. Twelve species of mosses and liverworts were collected from the watershed and used in an elution experiment. The results indicated that the pH of natural rainwater was significantly reduced following contact with these epiphytes. The acidity of Yuanyang Lake may largely be a result of natural acid leaching from the vegetation, rather than acidic precipitation.
KEYWORD	Acidity; Epiphyte; Lake acidification; Limnology; Terrestrial vegetation; Yuanyang Lake;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 42 Number 1 January 2001, page 17-22, 6 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China