Impact of air pollution on the forests of Central and Eastern Europe.

Abstract

Over the past 50 yr, there has been an unprecedented deterioration of the environment of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Air pollutants from fossil fuel combustion and heavy industry threaten productivity and in some places the future survival of forests. Political changes at the end of the 1980s were followed by economic transformations and significant declines in pollutant emissions. The decline in emissions was particularly noticeable (more than 50% in some countries) for sulfur dioxide. However, reductions in the atmospheric concentrations of toxic gases have not eliminated local and regional forest declines or the existence of pollution 'hot spots' with average daily concentrations of SO2 up to 1000 µg m-3. Changes in defoliation levels have not followed reductions in pollutant emissions and remain high throughout the region. Imbalanced nutrition is an important factor affecting tree health and reducing the resistance of forest ecosystems to combinations of other stresses. The reasons for the lack of a direct relationship between regional pollution loads and tree crown condition are uncertain and need further investigation. A new type of intensive monitoring (UN-ECE level II) should provide regional information about the ecological risks facing forest ecosystems, and should also lead to recommendations for forest management in areas impacted by air pollution. In Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, over 3.5 million hectares of forests were affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, resulting in the withdrawal of the wood and secondary products from the market and up to 10 times higher than normal costs of forest operations.

Wind – an important ecological factor and destructive agent in forests

“…In arid regions with aeolian sand soils, wind causes intensive erosion (Coutts & Grace 1995;Zhu et al 2004) and may substantially modify the relief (Krippel 1965). Wind contributes to the transportation of industrial pollutants, some of which can affect tree health (Jaffe et al 1995;Vančura et al 2000). Wind often transfers sharp particles of various origin and chemical composition.…”

Consequences of long-term severe industrial pollution for aboveground carbon and nitrogen pools in northern taiga forests at local and regional scales

“…The problem was particularly apparent in Central Europe, with the most striking example being the 'Black Triangle', an area along the GermanCzech-Polish border, where industrial air pollution caused widespread declines in high elevation conifer stands (Vancura et al, 2000). In the USA, intense episodes of elevated levels of ozone (O 3 ), formed from the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds from millions of cars, have been well recognised, especially in the Los Angeles Basin, since the early 1950s.…”

Structure, development and health status of spruce forests affected by air pollution in the western Krkonoše Mts. in 1979–2014

“…In spite of the reduction in emissions of industrial air pollutants in the CR that resulted in extensive and very severe disturbances of spruce forests in many localities, relatively high defoliation has been observed in the last years in the CR, Slovakia (Hlásny et al 2010), and Poland (Vančura et al 2000). For the most effective management it is necessary to take into account what possible impacts climate changes can have on the growth and mortality of particular tree species (Hanewinkel et al 2014) because higher frequency and intensity of disturbances are expected due to climate changes (Fuhrer et al 2006;Jonášová et al 2010).…”