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Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States (1990)

Chapter: Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic

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Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Page 159
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 160
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Page 161
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Page 162
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 163
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Page 164
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 165
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 166
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 167
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 168
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
×
Page 169
Suggested Citation:"Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic." National Academy of Sciences. 1990. Ecological Risks: Perspectives from Poland and the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1608.
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Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic STEFAN GODZ1K Institute of Environmental Engineering Polish Academy of Sciences JADWIGA STENKIEWICZ Forestry Research Institute Warsaw Forest injury close to air pollution sources has been known in Central Europe for more than 100 years (Schroeder and Reuss, 1887; Reuss, 1893~. Air pollutants gaseous as well as particulate are thought to be responsible for damage to a large part of the forested area in Poland, with both forest managers and forest scientists recognizing the situation as very serious (Grzywacz and Prusinkiewicz, 1986~. Inventories carried out in the late 1960s for the Upper Silesian industrial region of Poland have shown major changes in wooded area, tree species composition, and their growth parameters (Godzik and Harabin, 1968~. Since that time, significant changes in the extent of forest injuries have occurred not only in Upper Silesia, but in almost all European countries. Regional-scale air pollution has been implicated as a contributing factor in forest deterioration as damage has become evident outside industrial regions, especially in the mountainous part of Central Europe and in countries where emission of air pollutants from industrial sources has been relatively low (e.g., Switzerland, Scandinavia). Beginning in the early 1980s, symptoms of declining tree health have been observed in Central European forests, increasing rapidly both in impacted area and in intensity. Considerable forest damage has been reported in Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany (F RG), Switzerland, and to some extent in Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and Poland (Liefgreen, 1985; Figure 1~. Recent forest damage in Central Europe is perceived as a real threat not only to the forest ecosystem, but to the environment in general. The aim of this chapter is to present the most recent data available concerning forest injury and decline in Czechoslovakia, the GDR, and Poland. These three countries have been chosen because extensive damage 155

56 ID is/ ECOLOGICAL RISKS MU _~7 ~ Severe Forest Injury Dying Coniferous Forest YU FIGURE 1 Distribution of forest injures in some European countries (Wentzel, 1987~. A=Austna; B=Belgium; CH=Switzerland; CS=Czechoslovakia; D=F~G; DDR=GDR; DK=Denmark; E=Spain; F=France; GB=Great Bntain; H=Hungary; I=Italy; NL=Nether- lands; PL=Poland; R=Romania; S=Sweden; SU=USSR; YU=Yugoslavia. Of forests has been associated with regional industrial pollutants of similar origin. These areas are characterized by a preponderance of coniferous forest, dominated by Picea abies (Norway spruce), Pin us silvestris (Scots pine), with Fagus silvatica (beech) and Coerces robur (pedunculate oak) as important broadleaved species. Furthermore, fossil fuels such as bituminous and lignite coals are major energy sources for power generation and heating in the region, making transbollndary transport of air pollutants more than a theoretical problem. Sulfur dioxide is the pollutant of greatest concern, although the effects of ozone and oxidants are poorly documented in contrast to the situation in the United States. Because of the greater amount of data available to the authors, the situation in Poland will be discussed in more detail and will serve as a basis for comparison with the other countries.

HUM 4N EFFECTS ON THE TERRESTRIAL ENKIRONME~ TABLE 1 Emission of sulfur dioxide in Czechoslovalcia, GDR, and Poland. Country EMISSION OF SULFUR DIOXI1)E Area Total Metnc tons (x 1,000 km3) TO per a per km2 Czechoslovakia 1Z7.9 4 36.9 GDR 108.3 3.2 25.0 Poland 312.7 4.3 13.7 SOURCE: National Program, 1988. AIR POLLUTION 157 The total amount of sulfur dioxide emitted in Poland and Czechoslo- vakia calculated by unit area is shown in Table 1. The distribution of emissions sources within Europe has been taken from the 1979 OECD report. Figure 2 presents the distribution (isolines) of sulfur dioxide con- centration in Poland, based on modeling. The mean values of sulfur dioxide and fluorine deposition in Polish forests, measured by using a surface active monitoring technique (with potassium carbonate as active substance), are shown in Figures 3-6 (Dunikowski et al., 1988, 1989~. Conclusions concerning the severity of the situation differ to some extent, depending on the criteria for evaluation and on the total amount of sulfur dioxide emitted or calculated by an unit area (Table 1~. Poland is the largest "producer" of sulfur diode if the total amount is taken into account; however, if calculated by unit area, it is the smallest. It would appear that the latter conclusion is closer to reality. The uneven distribution of fossil fuel deposits and their use for power generation is largely responsible for the very diversified situation within each of these countries (Figures 1 and 2~. Due to emission source charac- teristics and meteorological conditions, the ground level concentration and, subsequently, its impact on the forest may differ both in severity and loca- tion. The role of sulfur dioxide is emphasized here, but it is by no means the only pollutant to cause adverse effects on forests. Also contributing are nitrogen oxides from coal-fired power stations and hydrogen fluoride (HF) from those using lignite as fuel (Dominok, 1984~. Poor control of emission of particulate is another contributing factor if deposited not only on the plant surface but on the soil as well. On a regional scale, the major pollutant is sulfur dioxide. On a local scale, even where other pollutants may be responsible for very serious effects, sulfur dionde can not be ignored as contributing element. In addition to several nitrogen compounds, including fertilizers, sulfur dioxide is emitted and reacts with ammonia coming from the same source. In the GDR, several types of pollutants have been recognized as

158 ECOLOGICAL RISES (I stoke ,tZiel~er~D n~:f//Y~ ~Siedlce Biit/.—~ it/// :~ ~~ ; A /d ska ,: Lub:;: P~e/och;a Wield ,y~ / It —- - -—32 9 m Areas of ecological risk: I / I low 1/ / /I middle 1////~ high _ dying forest 'I,-,:., ~ =~- ~/~K roSn:\ a- ·~.~\j FIGURE 2 Distnbution of sulfur dioxide concentration in Poland; mean value for the year 1985 (National Program, 1988~. causing injuries to various tree species (Ruetnick 1988). However, except for sulfur dioxide and fluorine compounds in Poland (Figures 3-6) and for sulfur dioxide concentration in some areas of the Czech Republic, no similar data are available for the GDR. For the Czech Republic the following mean concentrations of sulfur dioxide are available (given in grams of pollutant per cubic meter of air): · Ore Mountains: 100,ug m3 · Izerskie Mountains: 40 jug m3 · Beskidy Mountains: 20 - 30 fig m3. These figures represent daily values but from long-term measurements (Materna, 1986~. According to Kanok (1987), the emission of sulfur dioxide

HUMAN EFFECTS ON THE liERRESTRLAL ENVIRONMENT 159 './ i No Data ~ l.| 0.000-10.000 [= 10.001 - 30.000 ~ 30.001 - 50.000 . _ _ _ _ _ _ Above 50.000 A., _. FIGURE 3 Sulfur dioxide deposition rate in Polish forests in winter. (Dunikowski et al., 1988~. Values in mg per m2 per day in increasing order of line der~sitr. for the North Moravian area which includes the Beskidy region was estimated to be 221,000 metric tons per year. The amount of the same pollutant coming from industrial sources across the border in Poland (i.e., Upper Silesia) has been estimated at 780,000 metric tons per year (GUS, 1984~. No similar data are available to the authors for other regions of Czechoslovakia or the GDR. The distribution pattern of sulfur dioxide concentrations shows that the national standard (64 fig m~3) for this pollutant is exceeded in the southern part of Poland, from the border with the GDR (west from Jelenia Gora) along the border with Czechoslovakia to Bielsko-Biaca (Figure 2~. Data from measurements of the deposition rate of SO2 and F- carried out in about 2,000 forest locations (Figures 3~) show a similar pattern to the one presented in Figure 2 for SO2 concentration.

160 In__ t~~r¢~ ~ ~'';.~^~'' <~ i' ~~ 7~- ECOLOG CAL RISKS . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . · . .o . . . .~ . . . . . . · , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . · . . . .. . i .~.~'1 ~ No Data ]| . . . . :;: : 0.000 - 10.000 .... ~ A. .-. r) l <.'i [] 10.001 -30.000 . 30.001 - 50.000 i'.`,! Above 50.000 r r - FIGURE 4 Sulfur dio~de deposition rate in Polish forests in summer (Dunikowski et al., 1989~. Explanation as in Figure 3. During the winter months, the deposition of SO2 and F- is generally higher than in summer (compare Figures 3 ~ 5 and 4 & 6~. The highest dry deposition of these pollutants has been found in areas close to major air pollution sources as shown in the left corner of Figures 3~, west of Jelenia Gora, where pollutants from all three- countries are present (Praglowski, 1986~. The amount of sulfur dioxide emitted from the Polish power station at ~roszow alone has been estimated at 160,000 metric tons per year (GUS, 1984~. No official data for power stations located in Czechoslovakia and the GDR are available. The second most polluted area is the region where the Ostrava (North Moravian) region and the Upper Silesian industrial region share a border (see Figure 2, south of Katowice). Similarities in distribution patterns of

HUA~1N EFFECTS ON THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT 161 .. . . ~ A. - No Data ~ 0.000-0.030 _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ 0.031 - 0.060 0.061 - 0.100 _ _ _ _ _ _ Above 0.100 it._ C: ;II . . 1 , ~ ————~ /~ I ~ _ _ o ~ __ :\ . . . . . . . . . . . . .% . . . .. . ~ . . . . . . ~ . ~ ' . ' · . ' ~ t__~. ! I 2:~.-'. ( —. - - - -) Hi ~L: ~ FIGURE 5 Fluoride deposition rate in Polish forests in winter (Dunikowski et al., 1988~. Values in mg per m2 per day in increasing order of line density. sulfur dioxide and fluorine in both seasons may suggest that they are coming from similar sources. FORESTS AND FOREST INJURY IN CENTRAL EUROPE Information about forest composition in selected Central European countries and the most recent data from inventories of forest damage are shown in Able 2. Overall, forests cover about one-third of the area of Central Europe, and the quantity of wood harvested in the region constitutes roughly one-fifth of the total European wood harvest per annum (Liefgreen, 1985~. As already mentioned, Scots pine and Norway spruce dominate over broadleaved species in the region, with pine growing mostly in the lowlands (i.e., in the GDR and Poland) and spruce in the mountain

~ 62 ECOLOGICAL RISKS by. . 0~000 - 0.030 [41 0 031 - 0.060 0.061 - 0.100 = = _ _ =1 _ _ _ Above 0.100 FIGURE 6 Fluonde deposition rate in Polish forests in summer (Dunikowski et al., 1989~. Explanation as in Figure 5. regions. In Czechoslovakia, spruce constitutes the main forest species in the Czech Republic, whereas beech dominates in the Slovak Republic (Czechoslovak Forestry, 1972~. Forests in Central Europe, for the most part, have been planted and are intensively managed. Coniferous species have been planted for commercial purposes during the last 200 years, replacing the original mixed- hardwood forests. This mass introduction of conifers rendered these forests more vulnerable to stresses including pathogens, insect epidemics, extreme climatic events, and nutritional problems. Air pollution can be seen as an additional stress factor contributing to the already weakened condition of the forests, especially conifers. Data concerning forest injury Cable 2) generally are compiled only for whole countries; therefore, a more detailed description of their distribution

HUMAN EFFECTS ON THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT TABLE 2 Results of forest damage survey in some European countries; defoliation symptoms in all species and ages. Forest x 1,000 hectares Percent of total injured Country Total Conif. Broadl. area Austria 3,754 3,040 714 33.5 Czechoslovakia 4,578 2,942 1,636 52.3 $ GDR 2,955 2,275 680 37.0 FRG 7,360 5,078 2,282 52.3 Poland 8,654 6,895 1,759 57.6 ** Switzerland 1,186 777 409 56.0 *Conifers only $*Courtesy of Forest Inventory and Geodesy Bureau 1989. SOURCE: UN-ECE, 1988. 163 by province or district within each country is often not available. However, more detailed information for Czechoslovakia and Poland can be found in several papers. For the past several years, the most severe occurences of forest damage have been observed in Czechoslovakia in the Ore Mountains, and in Poland in the Izerskie Mountains (Figures 1 and 2~. In each of those areas, about 30,000 hectares of spruce forests have been cut down since the damage started (Materna, 1986; Rykowski, 1987~. The area of forest decline on the Polish side is expanding eastward toward the Beskidy Mountains (Figure 2~. Similar phenomena have been observed in Czechoslovakia (Materna, 1986~. Based on data for the year 1986, 37.2% of the forests in the North Moravian area has been injured (Kapok, 1987), which is more than twice the area reported damaged in 1981 (Pokorny, 1984~. A similar figure (36%) has been obtained for the forest on the Polish side of the border based on the inventory from 1983 (Godzik, 1987~. In both cases, assessments of the impact have been carried out using methods which originated in each country. Official figures for forest areas injured in these three countries ranged from 7% for Poland and 10% for Czechoslovakia to 13% for the GDR. However, it is unlikely that figures obtained for this area during the most recent inventory carried out in all European countries using the same method will be significantly higher Cable 2~. The criteria and methods applied in the inventory accepted by the European countries (Manual, 1986) are not designed to determine the specific cause of injury. In the region delineated by these three countries, air pollution has been implicated in forest damage measurements. Areas of most severe

164 ECOLOGICAL RISKS TABLE 3 Concentration of some heavy metals in needles and leaves from area surrounding a zinc smelter Concentration, ppm Plot I * Plant species Zn Pb Cd Plot II ** Zn Pb Cd Pinus silvestris 495.9 436.4 8.9 P. nigra 781.8 635.9 14.1 P. strobes 944.2 592.1 15.8 Betula verrucosa 2,780.1 535.9 15.7 261.0 276.0 179.7 92.4 434.4 202.7 1,709.3 4.2 2.6 6.8 293.0 8.8 Distance from the source: *= 0.8 km **= 2.0 km SOURCE: HawTys et al., 1986. and widespread injury are found in the vicinity of heavy industrial regions (Materna, 1986; Ruethnick, 1988; Program, 1985~. Data from the most recent assessment are based on the survey of 23,500 permanent plots in Poland, 2,500 plots in the GDR, and 164 plots in Czechoslovakia (Ibble 1) (National Program, 1988~. According to data obtained from measurements of air pollutants in forests, the most likely compound responsible for most of these injuries is sulfur dioxide, although nitrogen oxides and fluorine may also be contributing factors. On a local scale, however, pollutants other than sulfur dioxide may cause very severe damage to the forest, e.g., in the vicinity of the nitrogen fertilizer plant in Pulawy, or the zinc smelter at Miasteczko Slaskie. Injuries to forests around the Pulawy nitrogen fertilizer plant have increased at a very uneven rate (Kowalkowski, 1985), but are now visible at a distance of more than 60 kilometers downwind from the source. Because of the injury, all trees have been cut down within a zone of 1.5 km from the plant. Soil analysis has shown a very high input of nitrogen; however, it is not clear which compound (i.e., urea, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, ammonium nitrate, sulfur dioxide) was the most harmful. Ammonium sulfate produced as the result of interaction between sulfur dioxide and ammonia has not been taken into consideration so far. However, this compound is known to cause injuries to pine trees in the Netherlands (Boxman and Roelofs, 1986; Roelofs and Boxman, 1986~. A different combination of pollutants is emitted from the zinc smelter: sulfur oxides (di- and trioxides), sulfuric acid, and heavy metals (e.g., zinc

HUAL4N EFFECTS ON THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT 165 (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd)). The occurrence of forest injury from these elements is increasing at an estimated 250 meters per year in the downwind direction (Rostanski et al., 1985). Very high concentrations of all these metals have been found in both plants and soils around the smelter (Hawrys et al., 1986; Rostanski et al., 1985). Depending on distance and direction from the source of pollution, the concentrations of Zn, Pb, and Cd in the 1-7 cm soil layer were 1,200, 600, and 23.5, respectively, at a distance of 0.8 km, and 124, 160, and 4.5 ppm at a distance of 2.0 Ian (Hawrys et al., 1986~. Concentrations of some heavy metals in needles or leaves in the locations mentioned above are shown in Able 3. A significant amount (i.e., up to 90%) of these metals can be removed using such unconventional methods as organic solvents and ultrasounds, but their concentrations in the tissue still remain higher than in samples from outside this region (Godzik et al., 1979~. Long-term exposure of pine populations to air pollutants and other environmental stress factors has led to differences in their genetic character- istics when compared to populations from a lightly polluted location (Prus- Glowacki and Nowak-Bzowy, 1987~. Three generations of Piinus silvestris populations from two locations were compared, i.e., from near Poznan as a reference and from the Upper Silesian industrial region as a polluted site. In some cases, some alleles and genotypes showed reciprocal tendencies in these two populations, e.g., malic acid dehydrogenase (MHD) 3 allele and MHD 13 genotype. In the control population, the number of trees carrying the alleles increased while decreasing in the population from the polluted location. Frequency of MHD alleles may constitute a good index of selective pressure in Pinus silvestris populations under sulfur dioxide stress as shown by MeJnartowicz (1983~. An increase in average heterozygosity level and genetic polymorphism from the embryo group to the group of maternal trees has been found. In the population from the reference site, an increase was observed by 5% of heterozygosity level, and by 10% of genotypic polymorphism upon transition from the age group 15-30 years to the group of maternal trees (i.e., above 30 years old). In the population from the polluted site, heteroygosity level and genotypic polymorphism increased most rapidly by 10% and 20%, respectively—upon transition from embryos to the youngest indidviduals. This probably reflects the differences in selective pressures, which are stronger for the population at the polluted site. An inbreeding index shows that the population from the reference location remained in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, while the population from the polluted site demonstrated an excess of homoygotes in all age groups (Prus-Glowacki and Nowak-Bzowy, 1987~. A reduction of heteroygosity level by 30% and of genetic polymor- phism by 2056 has been observed in seedling populations of a known genetic

166 ECOLOGICAL RISKS TABLE 4 Concenuanon of some heavy metals ~pm) and sulfur (%) in pine [Pinus silvetris] needles and oak leaves [Querus robust] from Niepolomice Forest. CONCENTRATION PLANT SPECIES Cd Pb Zn S . . Pinus silvesms 1.76 23.11 57.36 0.177 Quercus robur 1.19 14 hi 15 R : SOURCE: Grodzinska, 1984, after Grodzinski et al., 1984 composition in experiments which are currently in progress (Prus-Glowacki, 1988~. Similar differences among populations of Arabidopsis thaliana from Upper Silesia and other parts of Poland have been found by Kilian (1987~. As far as the impact of air pollution on forest ecosystems is concerned, the most extensive studies thus far were carried out in the Niepolomice Forest, the results of which were presented by Grodzinski et al. (1984~. This lowland forest of pine (fin us silvestris, comprising 715E of the total) and oaks (coerces robur and Q.petrea, comprising 17% of the total) covers an area of 110 km and is located in southern Poland, east of Krakow. The mean annual sulfur dioxide concentration for the entire study period was 20 fig m~3, ranging between 10.25 and 11.98 fig m~3 during the warm season, and between 36.35 and 37.85 fig m~3 during the cold season of the year. The total deposition of sulfur (S) was 60.3 kg ham per year, with 37.8 kg ha~i by dry deposition. The injuries to pine trees have been estimated as medium to severe, depending on the location within the forest. The accumulation of Cd, Pb, and Zn has been estimated to be 0.3, 13.9, and 16.6 kg ha~i, respectively, while the yearly input of these metals has been estimated at 0.015, 0.315, and 1.231 kg ha~i, respectively. Concentrations of these elements in needles of Pinus silvestris and leaves of Quercus robur are presented in Table 4. Under these conditions, the photosynthesis of pine needles was reduced by 13 and 18% for first- and second-year needles, respectively. In the Niepolomice Forest, the average net biomass production of deciduous stands was low, and that of pine stands was definitely lower when compared to European temperate lowland forests. The reduction of pine diameter growth has been estimated to be between 20 and 3055. According to the authors, both long-term effects of air pollution and lowering of the water table are responsible for these effects (Grodzinski et al., 1984~. Forest decline in Upper Silesia has been investigated since the early 1970s (Wolak, 1971~. Extensive studies carried out in this region have re- sulted in the description of a typical pattern of forest vegetation transforma- tions induced by pollutants. In heavily contaminated areas, the secondary succession of vegetation—which--sets in as soon as the original conifer

HUMAN EFFECTS ON THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT 167 forests begin to die has lead to the formation of new, less complex, and more stable plant communities. These new communities, developed' and living under conditions of pollution stress, represent a state of sui genesis ecological equilibrium with the most obvious regularity, i.e., the higher the degree of air pollution, the lower the vegetation. Thus, in the industrial region of Upper Silesia, in locations once overgrown with conifer or mixed deciduous forest, a stable zonation of vegetation has been established in relation to the degree of pollution from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, heavy metals, etc. (Wolak et al., 1977; Wolak, 1979~. Under conditions of severe air pollution, an industrial desert occurs, followed by a grass zone with communities dominated by gramineous species, such as Calamag~ostis epigeioso or' C. villosa. Along with the decreasing gradient of air pollution, a zone of shrubby trees is formed with a zone of stunted forest closing the series. Thus, the original forest communities are being replaced by communities of grassland or sand dunes, which constitutes the reversal of natural succession of vegetation (Rostanski et al., 1985; Sienkiewicz, 1986~. SUMMARY Data presented in the previous section illustrate the seriousness of the state of forest health in Central Europe. The importance of air pollutants, particularly dry and wet deposition, as a cause of forest injury and forest decline in Czechoslovakia, the GDR, and Poland is apparent. In all loca- tions where injuries are moderate to severe, not only are the ambient air concentrations of phytotoxic agents high, but the concentration of heavy metals in soils is elevated simultaneously with a marked decrease in pH (Pelisek, 1986; Pokorny, 1984, 1987; Vesely, 1987; Hawrys et al., 1986~. Populations of soil microorganisms also undergo changes; however, decline of trees occurs earlier than the collapse of soil microflora (Lettl, 1986, 1987~. No correlation has been found between the pH of the soil and the severity of tree injury in mountain areas of Czechoslovakia (Pokorny, 1984; Kratochvilova and Marek 1986~. However, the lowest soil pH was found in the Ore Mountains, where injuries are most severe (Pokorny, 1984~. A correlation has been found between the elevation above sea level and the degree of tree injury (Ibid., Kwapis, 1988~. Although the air pollution differs both quantitatively and qualitatively, the symptoms of forest injury are very similar throughout Europe, and do not differ markedly from those described as "classical" (e.g., Kandler, 1985; Wentzel, 1987~. In addition, the severity of the deterioration in forest health does not correlate with the deposition of certain pollutants. For example, the concentration of some elements in spruce needles from some locations in Poland and the FRG does not reflect both the severity and extent of the damage to forests in these countries (Table 5~. Similar deposition of sulfur in the Izerskie

168 ECOLOGICAL RISKS TABLE 5 Concentration of sulfur and F- in spruce needles (Picea abies) fram some injured forests in Poland and Federal Republic of Germany LOCATION Beskidy Mts Izerskie Mts ELEMENT (PL) Sauerlach (FRO) Donaustauf (FRO) S (%) 0.168 0.228 F- (pg/g) 8.26 11.69 0.097 3.0 0.097 5.0 SOURCE: Godzik and Krause, 1987, from Godzik, 1987. Mountains and the Beskidy Mountains of Czechoslovakia in the range of 60 kg ha per annum as wet deposition (Forest...,1988; Godzik and Szdzuj, 1988) has led to ecological disaster in the Izerskie Mountains, but not in the Beskidy Mountains to date. This seems to support the thesis that no single cause/effect explanation applies in the case of observed forest damage (Cowling et al., 1986; Godzik, 1984, 1987; Manion, 1981; Schutt, 1988~. Consequently, the authors are also of the opinion that multiple factors, including various types of air pollutants, are responsible for the forest injury and decline. REFERENCES Boxmann , A.W., J. G. M. Roelofs. 1986. Some physiological effects of NH4+ and Ala+ on pine forest ecosystem. Pp. 407414 in W~ssenschaftliches Symposium zum Thema Waldschaeden Neue Ursachen Hypothesen. UBA Texte 19/86. UBA Berlin. Cowling, E., B. Krahl-Urban, C. Schimansky. 1986. W'ssenschaftliche Hypothesen zur Erklaerung der U'sachen. Pp. 120-1125 in Waldschaeden Kernforschungsanlage Juelich, E.H. Papke, B. Krahl-Urban, K. Peters, C. Schimansky, eds. Czechoslovak Forestry. 1972. The Ministry of Forests and Waters CSR, and the Ministry of Forests and Waters SSR. State Agricultural Publishing House, Prague. Dominok, B. 1984. Fluoride and environment: Situation in the district Cottbus. Fluonde 17:19~196. Dunikowski, S. 1988. The state and perspectives of monitoring of the forest environment. Pp. 1-7 in Conference on Forest Decline in Poland. Committee for Forest Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw. February 1988 (in Polish). Dunikowski, S., J. Wawrzoniak, A. Liwinska, J. Malachowska, D. Kowalska. 1988. Mea- surment of air pollution in the forest: Technical monitoring. Report for the winter season 1987-1988. Forestry Research Institute. Warsaw (in Polish). Dunikowski, S., J. Wawrzoniak, A. Liwinska, J. Malachowska, D. Kowalska. 1989. Measur- ment of air pollution in the forest: Technical monitoring. Report for the summer season 1988. Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw (in Polish). Forest Monitoring and Management Program in Sudety Mountains. 1988. Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw (in Polish). Godzik, S. 1984. Air pollution problems in some central European countries: Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, and Poland. Pp. 25-34 in Gaseous Air Pollutants and Plant Metabolism, M.J. Koziol and F.R. Whatley, eds. Butte~worth, London. Godzik, S. 1987. An attempt to evaluate the effects of air pollutants on forests and soils. Ochrona Powietrza 6:156-160 (in Polish).

HUAL4N EFFECTS ON THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT 169 Godzik, S., Z. Harabin. 1968. Waldbestaende im Raume Katowice und Myslowice zu Ende des XIX Jahrhunderts und gegenwaertig. Pp. 355-369 in Referaten der VI Interantionalen Arbeitstagung Forstlicher Rauchschadensachverstaendiger. Katowice Godzik, S., T. F.lorkowski, S. Piorek, and M.M.A. Sassen. 1979. An attempt to determine the tissue contamination of Queries rot L. and Pizzas sdvestns Lo foliage by particulates from zinc and lead smelter. Environm. Pollut. 18:97-106. Grodzinski, W., J. Weiner, and P.F. Maycock. 1984. Forest ecosystems in industrial regions. Berlin: Springer Verlag. Grywacz, A., and Z. Prusinkiewicz, edit 1986. [lends in development of forest sciences till the year 2000 and in subsequent years. Postepy Nauk Rolniczych 2-3:86, Z9-250. Hawtys, R., J. Chlodny, J.Zwolinski, I. Matuszcyk. 1986. Determination of tree species composition for afforestation of areas under air pollution stress. Documents. Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw (in Polish). Kandler, O. 1985. Immissionen—versus Epidemie Hypothese. Pp. 19-59 in Theorie und Praxis auf der Suche Bach Antworten, G. van Kortzfleisch, ed. Waldschaeden. Muenchen-W~en: R. Oldenbourg Verlag. Kanok, E. 1987. Economic consequences of air pollution in north Moravian state forests. Lesnictvi 33:607~20 (in Czech3. Kilian, A. 1987. Genetic erects of environmental pollution on the model plants. Ph. D Thesis. Silesian University, Katowice On Polish). Kowalkowski, A. 1985. Fundamentals of forest management in areas infuenced by air pollutants from the Pulawy nitrogen fertilizer plant. Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw (in Polish). Kratochvilova, I., and M. Marek. 1986. The influence of air pollution on the soil reaction and some characteristic of spruce stands in Jizerske holy. Lesnictvi 32:1069-1080 (in Czech). Kwapis, Z. 1988. Air, soil, and foliage pollution of spruce stands at Ustron forest management area. American-Polish Seminar on Long-Term Monitoring of Forest Ecosystems. Jaszowiec, 1988 (in Polish). Lettl, A. 1986. Development of microbial populations in forest soils exposed to SO2 emissions. Lesnictvi 32:593~10 (in Czech). Lettl, A. 1987. Internal relations in the microbial populations of the soil of spruce, European mountain ash, and birch stands in the area with air pollution stress. Lesnictvi 33:769-786 - (in Czech). Liefgreen, D. 1985. Long range air pollution: A threat to European forests. Unasylva 37, No. 149:14-25. Manion, P.D. 1981. Itee Disease Concepts. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. Manual on methodologies and criteria for harmonized sampling, assessment, monitoring, and analysis of the effects of air pollution on forests. 1986. Hamburg/Geneva: Programme Coordinating Centres/UN-ECE. Materna, J. 1986. An outlook of the influence of air pollution on forests in the Czechoslovak Socialst Republic. Lesnictvi 32:319-3~ (in Czech). Moseholm, L^, B. Anderssen, and I. Johnsen. 1985. Acid deposition and forest decline in central Europe. The Nordic Council of Ministers. National Program of Natural Environment Protection Till the Year 2010. 1988. Draft. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Warsaw (in Polish). Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 1979. Programme on Long Range Itansport of Air Pollutants. OECD, Paris. Pelisek, J. 1986. The harmful effects of emissions on forest soils and stands. Lesnictvi 32:87~8 (in Czech). Pokorny, P. 1984. To the problem of forest soil acidification in mountain regions of the Czech Socialist Republic (CSR). Pp. 81-91 in the Proceedings of the Symposium on Air Pollution and Stability of Coniferous Forest Ecosystems. Ostravice, Czechoslovakia, October 1-5, 1984. Pokorny, P. 1987. Contamination of forest soils by air polluting substances. Lesnictvi 33:267-277 (in Czech).

170 ECOLOGICAL RISKS Praglowski, R., et al. 1986. Integrated air pollution measurments at the Rozdroze Izerskie. Jelenia Gora cit. ace. to Forest Monitoring Program in Sudety (in Polish). Program 1985. Hazards to the forest environment in Poland: 1985. Ministry of Forestry and Wood Industry, Main State Forests Management, Forestry Research Institute. Warsaw (in Polish). Prus-Glowacki, W. and Nowak-Bzowy. 1987. Demographic processes in Gus silvestris populations from regions under strong and weak anthro-opression (in press). Prus-Glowacki, W. 1988. Direction and dynamic of adaptative processes in populations of forest trees (Mbus silves~is) in air polluted areas. Report. Institute of Environmental Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, Zabrze (in Polish). Reuss, C 1983. Rauchbeschaedigung in dem van Thiele-W~nkler'schen Forstreviere Myslowitz- Kattowitz. Goslar. Roelofs, J.G.M., A.W. Boxmann. 1986. The effect of airborne ammonium sulfate depo- sition on pine forests. Pp. 415-422 in W~ssenschaftliches Symposium zum Thema Waldschaeden "Neue Ursachen-Hypothesen." UBA Texte 19/86. UBA Berlin. Rostanski, K., ed. 1985. Plant communities of forests under air pollution stress. Report. Katowice. Ruethnick, R. 1988. Die Aufgaben der Forstwirtschaft bet weitren Verwirklichung der Beschluesse des XI Parteitages der SED. Sozialistische Forstwirtschaft 9/88, pp. 257- 265. Rykowski, K. 1987. Consenration of forests under conditions of growing threats to the environment. Pp. 375-386 in the Proceedings of the Workshop on Forest Decline and Reproduction: Regional and Global Consequences, Lo Kairiukstis, S. Nilsson, and A. Straszak, eds. IIASA Laxenburg. Schroeder J. van, and C Reuss. 1983. Die Beschaedigung der Vegetation durch Rauch und Oberharzer Huettenrauchschaeden. Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republic, Leipzig 1986. Schutt, P. 1988. Der Wald Stirbt an Stress. Ullstein. Frankfurt M./Berlin. Sienkiewicz, J. 1986. Effect of heavy metals industry on plant communities. Sci.Total Environm. 55:339-349. Itampler, T. 1988. Evaluation of forest injury using biomonitoring methods. Pp. 8-18 in Conference on forest decline in Poland. Committee of Forest Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences. Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw (in Polish). Sampler, T. 1989. Forest injury in Poland. Report. Forestry Research Institute. Warsaw (in Polish). UN-ECE. 1988. Forest damage and air pollution. Report for the 1987 Forest Damage Survey in Europe. GEMS, Geneva. Vesely, J. 1987. The infuence of emissions on the chemical composition of forest soils. Lesnictvi 33:385-398. Wentzel, K-F. 1987. Waldschaeden- was ist wirklich neu? Mensch and Umwelt, September 1987, pp. 19-28. Wolak, J. 1971. Studies on the industrioclimax in Poland. Proc. XV IUFRO Congr. When. Wolak, J., ed. 1977. Relationship between increase in air pollution toxicity and elevation above ground. Report. Forestry Research Institute, Warsaw. Wolak, J. 1979. Reaction des Ecosystems a la Pollution Subnecrotique. ECE symposium on the effects of airborne pollution on forests. Warsaw, Poland, August 20-24.

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