{{Short description|Organism intolerant to acidic environments}} An '''acidophobe''' is an organism that is intolerant of acidic environments.<ref>Robert Alan Lewis. (1998). ''Lewis' Dictionary of Toxicology''. CRC Press. (p. 17).</ref> The terms '''acidophobia''', '''acidophoby''' and '''acidophobic''' are also used.<ref>Acidophobe. (n.d.) ''-Ologies & -Isms''. (2008). Retrieved March 15, 2022 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Acidophobe</ref> The term ''acidophobe'' is variously applied to plants, bacteria, protozoa, animals, chemical compounds, etc. The antonymous term is ''acidophile.''<ref>{{cite web |title=acid, -acidi-, acido-, -acidity |url=http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/2369/2/?spage=2&letter=A |work=Robertson's Words for a Modern Age: A Dictionary of Latin and Greek Words used in Modern-English Vocabulary |publisher=wordinfo.info |accessdate=2006-08-26}}</ref>
Plants are known to be well-defined with respect to their pH tolerance, and only a small number of species thrive well under a broad range of acidity.<ref>Iqbal, M. T. "Acid tolerance mechanisms in soil grown plants." ''Malaysian Journal of soil science'' 16.1 (2012): 1-21.</ref><ref>Yost, R. S. "Plant tolerance of low soil pH, soil aluminum, and soil manganese." ''Plant Nutrient Management in Hawaii’s Soils'' 11 (2000): 113-115.</ref> Therefore the categorization acidophile/acidophobe is well-defined. Sometimes a complementary classification is used (calcicole/calcifuge, with calcicoles being "lime-loving" plants). In gardening, soil pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity of soil, with pH = 7 indicating the neutral soil. Therefore acydophobes would prefer pH above 7. Acid intolerance of plants may be mitigated by lime addition and by calcium and nitrogen fertilizers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=I. M. |last2=Zeigler |first2=R. S. |last3=Vera |first3=R. |last4=Sarkarung |first4=S. |date=1993 |title=Selection and Breeding for Acid-Soil Tolerance in Crops |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1311905 |journal=BioScience |volume=43 |issue=7 |pages=454–465 |doi=10.2307/1311905 |jstor=1311905 |issn=0006-3568|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Tinghui |last2=Zhan |first2=Xinhua |last3=Xu |first3=Yangchun |last4=Zhou |first4=Lixiang |last5=Zong |first5=Lianggang |date=2005 |title=[Roles of calcium in stress-tolerance of plants and its ecological significance] |journal=Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao = The Journal of Applied Ecology |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=971–976 |issn=1001-9332 |pmid=16110682}}</ref>
Acidophobic species are used as a natural instrument of monitoring the degree of acidifying contamination of soil and watercourses. For example, when monitoring vegetation, a decrease of acidophobic species would be indicative of acid rain increase in the area. A similar approach is used with aquatic species.
==Acidophobes== *Whiteworms (''Enchytraeus albidus''), a popular live food for aquarists, are acidophobes. *Acidophobic compounds are the ones which are unstable in acidic media. *Acidophobic crops: alfalfa, clover {{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Physiology
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