Effects of simulated acid rain on growth and development in Brassica campestris L. in northeast of China

Effects of simulated acid rain (SAR) on growth and development in Brassica campestris L. (rape) were studied. Plants were exposed every two days after tenth day of emergence to 10 mm simulated rain at pH levels of 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.6 and 6.5 (CK). The results indicated that influences on growth and development in rape were highly correlated with pH levels under treatment of acid rain. The impacts mainly depended on the acidity of SAR, and then the time of rape suffered from SAR. The visible symptoms of rape injury were appeared at foliar injury such as chlorosis or necorsis. Acid rain stress can cause plant height dwarf, lengths of stem and root reduce, and fresh and dry weights of edible portions and roots significantly decrease. With increasing acidity of acid rain, the growth and development of rape were remarkably inhibited. Under stress of the weak acid rain, growth of rape was partly stimulated.