Why is sulfide acidification important?
Biological activity produces weak acids as plant roots absorb ions through their roots, as soil organisms respire, and as microbes decompose residue and humus. The acid produced by the oxidation of sulfide 2 minerals, sulfuric acid 2, is much stronger than the acids produced by biological activity and will acidify soil more rapidly and to a greater degree. The net effect is substantial loss of soil quality 2 because the soil pH becomes unfavorable to all but a few acid-tolerant microbes.
