Ecological Risks Perspectives from Poland and the United States (1990) / Chapter Skim
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Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic
Air Pollution and Forest Health in Central Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic
Pages 155-170
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From page 155... ...
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)
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From page 156... ...
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.
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From page 157... ...
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~.
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From page 158... ...
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)
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From page 159... ...
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)
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From page 160... ...
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~.
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From page 161... ...
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~.
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From page 162... ...
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.
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From page 163... ...
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~.
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From page 164... ...
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.
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From page 165... ...
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)
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From page 166... ...
Forest decline in Upper Silesia has been investigated since the early 1970s (Wolak, 1971~. Extensive studies carried out in this region have resulted in the description of a typical pattern of forest vegetation transformations induced by pollutants.
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From page 167... ...
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.
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From page 168... ...
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.
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From page 169... ...
1985. Fundamentals of forest management in areas infuenced by air pollutants from the Pulawy nitrogen fertilizer plant.
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From page 170... ...
1988. Die Aufgaben der Forstwirtschaft bet weitren Verwirklichung der Beschluesse des XI Parteitages der SED.
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