Timescales of recovery from acidification: Implications of current knowledge for aquatic organisms

Current understanding of the mechanisms of recovery of surface waters from acidification leads to several conclusions which must be considered when devising emission control strategies. Recovery can be regarded as being in two stages: an initial phase in which the waters respond to the reduced SO4(2-) deposition, and a second phase which depends on recovery of the soil base status. If an acceptable water quality is not produced in the first phase, recovery will be extremely slow, taking centuries. This may be true of very sensitive areas such as S Norway. Faster and deeper emission reductions will not significantly speed recovery in these situations: liming is then the only practicable method. Areas where the weathering rate is higher will recover faster, and here recovery may be delayed (by decades) by two poorly understood processes-release of SO4(2-) and release of organic acids from soils. Research on the control of these processes and on the extent of lake resource in each category is urgently needed.