Soil Acidification

Soil acidification is the gradual lowering of soil pH, most often driven in farmed land by the long-term use of ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers, by the removal of basic cations in harvested crops, and by acid-forming processes in high-rainfall regions, which together reduce nutrient availability and can release aluminum to toxic levels for plant roots. Farmers commonly counteract it by applying lime or another alkaline soil amendment to restore a more neutral pH.