What leads to forest damage
What leads to forest damage
Переведите на русский язык в письменной форме абзацы 1 и 6.
5. Найдите соответствующие ответы на вопросы и напишите их в той последовательности, в которой заданы вопросы:
Вопросы
1. What is marketing?
2. What operations does marketing include?
3. What is the most important thing in marketing?
4. What are the main steps in marketing research?
Ответы
a. To find out who the customers are and what they want.
b. Defining the problem, collecting data, compiling data and analyzing the results. ь
c. The performance of business activities connected with the flow of goods from producers to consumers.
d. Transporting, storing, pricing and selling goods.
6. Закончите предложения, выбрав соответствующий вариант окончания:
1. Transporting means.. a) determining the best price;
Вариант 16
1. Найдите в правой колонке русские эквиваленты английских слов и словосочетаний:
1. pollution a. отходы
2. up-to-date b. заболевать
3. carry (goods) c. опасный
4. wastes d. кислота
5. contaminate e. влиять, воздействовать
6. get sick f. загрязнение
7. destroy g. разрушать
8. dangerous h. быть озабоченным
9. acid i.перевозить (товары)
10. to be concerned about j. загрязнять
11. affect к. современный
12. dirty 1. грязный, загрязненный
13. result (in) m. привести (к результату)
2. Переведите на русский язык встречающиеся в тексте интернациональные слова:
problem, machine, technology, comfortable, result, ozone, activity, planet, balance, catastrophe, atmosphere.
3. Прочтите текст и выполните следующие за ним упражнения:
1. People have designed and produced up-to-date machines and technologies to make their life easier and more comfortable. But all these activities result in air and water pollution.
2. One of the most important problems is the oceans. A lot of ships crossing the oceans and seas, especially those that carry oil, put their wastes into water, and the water becomes dirty. As a result many birds and fish die because of polluted water, others are getting contaminated and people may get sick from eating them.
3. The second problem is air pollution. Cars and plants pollute the atmosphere with their wastes. They destroy the ozone layer which protects us from the dangerous light of the Sun. They also destroy forests which are dying from acid rains.
4. Now people begin to realize the danger of their activities. People are concerned about the air and the water used by everyone, they are also concerned about the future of the planet because they understand that these activities affect the balance of nature.
5. In order to make our life not only easier but better and healthier we must learn to protect the water, the air and the earth from pollution. Our planet belongs to our children and if we want our children to live in a healthier world we must do everything to protect them from the catastrophe.
4. Переведите на русский язык в письменной форме абзацы 1,2,3,4.
5. Найдите соответствующие ответы на вопросы и напишите их в той последовательности, в которой заданы вопросы:
Вопросы
1. What do people’s activities result in?
2. What happens to birds, animals, fish and people because of polluted water?
3. What do wastes of cars and plants destroy?
4. What must we do if we want our children to live in a healthier world?
Ответы
a. Many birds, animals and fish die of polluted water. Others are getting contaminated and people may get sick from eating them.
b. We must learn to protect the water, the air and the earth from the pollution.
c. Air and water pollution.
d. The ozone layer which protects us from the sun.
6. Закончите предложения, выбрав соответствующий вариант окончания:
a) but all these activities did not result in air and water pollution.
b) but all these activities result in water and air pollution.
c) but all these activities do not affect the balance of nature.
2. A lot of ships crossing the oceans, especially those that carry oil, put their wastes into water. As a result.
a) they destroy the ozone layer.
b) they destroy forests which are dying from acid rains.
c) they pollute water and many fish and birds die.
a) improve and make their life healthier.
b) improve machines and do not affect the balance of nature.
c) result in air and water pollution and affect the balance of nature.
a) but do not destroy the ozone layer and forests.
b) and destroy the ozone layer and forests which are dying from acid rains.
c) but do not affect the balance of nature.
Вариант 17
1. Найдите в правой колонке русские эквиваленты английских слов и словосочетаний:
1. environmental protection a. обеспечивать экономику ресурсами
2. to absorb (smth) b. сокращать лесные ресурсы
3. to supply the economy with resources c. защита окружающей среды
4. to pollute d. неисчерпаемый источник ресурсов
5. to reduce the resources of forests e. поглощать
6. to suffer an environmental problem f. загрязнять
7. water shortage g. строевой лес
8. damage to wildlife h. нехватка воды
9. timber i. отходы
10. an unlimited source of resources j. нанести ущерб ресурсам
11. wastes к. вред дикой природе
12. to damage the resources 1. сталкиваться с проблемой окружающейсреды
2. Переведите на русский язык встречающиеся в тексте интернациональные слова:
limit, atmosphere, economy, result, natural, gas, ozone, problem, fact, territory, economic, protect.
3. Прочтите текст и выполните следующие за ним упражнения:
1. People have thought that the environment is an unlimited source of resources, that the atmosphere, forests, rivers and seas are capable of absorbing all wastes. The environment supplies the economy of any country with its resources such as timber, minerals and oil. As a result, natural resources are becoming reduced, air and water are polluted, and the environment is unable to absorb all its wastes.
2. For example, waste gases cause acid rains; this leads to forest damage and therefore reduces the resources of forests. Another problem iswater shortage resulting from unlimited use of it. The third one isdestroying the ozone layer of the Earth through pollution from plants and cars. One more problem is damage to wildlife. It is possible that some kinds of animals can disappear due to people’s activities.
3. Some territories in Russia are also suffering environmental problems. Many of these problems have been caused by economic activities. Many forests in the north of European Russia and the Far East are under threat.
4. If we want to live in a healthier world we must learn to use the environment carefully and protect it from damage caused by our activities. Otherwise very soon we will have no world to live in.
Переведите на русский язык в письменной форме абзацы 1,2 и 3.
5. Найдите соответствующие ответы на вопросы и напишите их в той последовательности, в которой заданы вопросы:
Вопросы
1. What leads to forest damage?
2. What destroys the ozone layer of the Earth?
3. Why can many kinds of animals disappear?
4. What environmental problems is Russia suffering?
5. What is it necessary to do in order to live in a healthier world?
Ответы
a. Problems caused by economic activities.
c. To use the environment carefully and protect it from damage.
d. As a result of people’s activities.
e. Wastes of plants and cars.
6. Закончите предложения, выбрав соответствующий по смыслу вариант:
a) unable to absorb all its wastes.
b) able to absorb all its wastes.
c) able to affect the balance of nature.
a) reduce the resources of forests.
b) do not reduce the resources of forests.
c) protect the resources of forests.
a) but do not destroy the ozone layer of the Earth.
b) and destroy the ozone layer of the Earth.
c) but do not affect the nature.
4. People must learn to use the environment carefully and.
a) affect the balance of nature.
b) make their life easier.
c) protect it from damages caused by their activities.
Переведите на русский язык в письменной форме абзацы 1,2 и 3.
5. Найдите соответствующие ответы на вопросы и напишите их в той последовательности, в которой заданы вопросы:
Вопросы
1. What leads to forest damage?
2. What destroys the ozone layer of the Earth?
3. Why can many kinds of animals disappear?
4. What environmental problems is Russia suffering?
5. What is it necessary to do in order to live in a healthier world?
Ответы
a. Problems caused by economic activities.
c. To use the environment carefully and protect it from damage.
d. As a result of people’s activities.
e. Wastes of plants and cars.
6. Закончите предложения, выбрав соответствующий по смыслу вариант:
a) unable to absorb all its wastes.
b) able to absorb all its wastes.
c) able to affect the balance of nature.
a) reduce the resources of forests.
b) do not reduce the resources of forests.
c) protect the resources of forests.
a) but do not destroy the ozone layer of the Earth.
b) and destroy the ozone layer of the Earth.
c) but do not affect the nature.
4. People must learn to use the environment carefully and.
a) affect the balance of nature.
b) make their life easier.
c) protect it from damages caused by their activities.
Вариант 18
Найдите в правой колонке русские эквиваленты английских
| слов и словосочетаний: | |
| environment pollution | а. химические отходы |
| to consume goods | b. деятельность |
| expensive | с. разрушать |
| chemical wastes | d. промышленные предприятия |
| traffic | е. загрязнение окружающей среды |
| industrial enterprises | f. столкнуться с проблемой |
| substance | g. поглощать |
| to reduce | h. уличное движение |
| replenish | i.потреблять товары |
10. to absorb j. вещество
11. to destroy к. дорогой
12. to face the problem 1. сокращать
13. preservation of environment m. восполнять (ресурсы)
14. activities n. охрана окружающей среды
2. Переведите на русский язык встречающиеся в тексте интернациональные слова:
problem, service, energy, natural, resources, serious, television, radio, chemical, industry, industrial, sort, eczema, asthma, atmosphere, materials, plactics.
3. Прочтите текст и выполните следующие за ним упражнения:
THE PROBLEMS OF ENVIRONMENT
1. One of the greatest problems of all modern cities is the environment pollution. Every year people consume more goods. Production of goods and services uses energy and natural resources (oil, gas, coal, wood, etc.). All these things are used faster than they can be replenished. Natural resources and energy are getting more expensive, and air and water are becoming seriously polluted. The problem of environmental pollution is well-known to most people. We have heard about it on television and radio, and have read in newspapers and magazines.
2. The worst environment pollution is caused by the manufacturers who put chemical wastes into rivers and seas. Another problem is ail pollution. The air is polluted by traffic and smog from industrial enterprises.
3. The word smog comes from smoke and fog. Smog is a sort of fog with other substances mixed in it, which can be harmful, even deadly. Sucl diseases as eczema and asthma are linked to air pollution.
4. Materials like paper and glass can be reused, but, unfortunately, many materials, especially plastics cannot be reused and cannot Ы absorbed by the earth again. Some plastics cannot even be destroyed. As г result of this people face the problem of preservation of our environment
5. All these things are very serious and people must realise what wif happen if they don’t do everything possible to reduce man-mad atmospheric pollutants and smog.
What leads to forest damage
The effects of deforestation
Forest destruction is a crisis for the whole planet. Find out how we can all fight to save our forests.
In the time it takes to say ‘deforestation’, another chunk of forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed.
That’s every two seconds, every single day.
And we’re not including commercially grown trees and plantations. We mean natural, noisy forests that were full of life, and home to threatened species such as orangutans and jaguars.
There’s only about half the number of trees on the planet today that there were when humans first evolved. And the fastest rate of forest destruction has been in the past couple of centuries.
Up to 15 billion trees are now being cut down every year across the world. It’s just not sustainable, or very smart – for wildlife, for people, or for the climate.
We’re fighting hard to stop forest destruction. Years of committed work by environmental campaigners, politicians and businesses is starting to pay off, but there’s lots more to do. And we urgently need your help.
Deforestation affects us all, whether we realise it or not.
As well as being stunningly beautiful, forests are vital for the health of our planet. They provide food and shelter for so much of life on Earth – from fungi and insects to tigers and elephants.
More than half the world’s land-based plants and animals, and three-quarters of all birds, live in and around forests.
Forests have a big influence on rainfall patterns, water and soil quality and flood prevention too. Millions of people rely directly on forests as their home or for making a living.
But the risks from deforestation go even wider. Trees absorb and store carbon dioxide. If forests are cleared, or even disturbed, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Forest loss and damage is the cause of around 10% of global warming. There’s simply no way we can fight the climate crisis if we don’t stop deforestation.
We need to protect forests now more than ever.
Most deforestation is carried out to clear land for food production. This is not a new thing – for instance in the UK we largely cleared our natural forests centuries ago to create more agricultural land. But now we know the wider damage deforestation can do – and especially at the alarming pace and scale of destruction happening around the world.
The majority of the deforestation is linked to meat, soya and palm oil. Huge swathes of tropical forest are removed so the land can be used for growing soya to feed farm animals like pigs and poultry. All to meet the insatiable global demand for cheap meat.
Even though the damage is mainly done to tropical forests, the causes can be linked to eating habits all around the world – including here in the UK. Our footprint is mainly linked to soya grown to feed British reared animals. So the chicken and bacon in our shops may well be unwittingly contributing to global deforestation.
We help reduce forest damage in a number of ways. We’re known for our work with industry and the public to promote more sustainable use of the world’s forests.
We co-founded the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), whose tick logo on wood and paper products helps shoppers identify and support sustainable forest management. And we were founder members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), who’ve improved and expanded the sources of responsibly-produced palm oil.
Plus we helped bring in legislation to prevent illegal timber being sold in the UK. In 2014, dozens of high-profile firms signed up to our Forest Campaign, including Argos, B&Q, Carillion, M&S, Penguin Random House and Sainsbury’s. They all pledged their wood and paper would be legally and sustainably sourced by 2020.
We’ve had our successes, but the challenges keep growing too. We helped reduce deforestation in the Amazon by 75% between 2004 and 2012. But since then deforestation has been on the increase, with the highest rate of deforestation in a decade recorded in 2018.
In an emergency response to the scale and intensity of the current Amazon fires, we’ve also launched an appeal to support our local WWF Amazon teams working with local organisations to carry out urgent work on the ground.
Forest Damage
Forest damage is a complex problem involving the interaction of exposures to acids and other air pollutants, forestry practices, and naturally occurring soil conditions.
Related terms:
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SITE-SPECIFIC SILVICULTURE | Silviculture in Polluted Areas
General strategy
As the visible symptoms of forest damage appear long after ecosystem stability has become affected, and after a long period of invisible or latent damage, emergency measures are needed to help declining stands. Regular restorative measures, forming the basis of silviculture in polluted areas, should be preventive, aimed at an improvement of the ecological stability of stands in such a way that they will better resist future pollution impacts. The maintenance of forests in polluted areas requires more intensive management than in unpolluted areas, involving ‘soft’ techniques and highly skilled manual labor.
The health of forests depends not only on pollutant toxicity or soil nutritional quality but also on a number of other environmental factors, including climate, water supply, stand density and composition, weeds, pests, and pathogens. Therefore, the direct mitigation of pollution effects is only one of several options; any technically possible and economically feasible measure to improve forest growth could be used to maintain and improve the stability of forests suffering from pollution.
This article describes restorative measures that are likely to prevent or at least slow down forest deterioration in polluted areas. For commercial forests it is also important to promote the vigor of stands as well as to attempt to produce larger trees in a shorter time, as the stands may need to be cut prematurely. Shortening the rotation time is recommended so that trees are cut before they start to die from pollution, and also to minimize soil acidification, which increases with stand age; the latter is especially important for stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies). In the most polluted temperate forests, rotation times may be reduced by 20–40 years, and in moderately polluted forests by 10–20 years; forests subjected to low pollution load can be cut at the same interval as unpolluted forests. Large-scale curative measure should only be applied if they are likely to mitigate the expected adverse consequences of pollution impact for at least 20 years.
Climate Change, Air Pollution and Global Challenges
23.5 The Ozone Budget
Ozone is a secondary air pollutant that can damage forest trees by inducing visible leaf injury, growth reduction, changes in resource allocation and, by this, increased sensitivity to biotic and abiotic stress ( Matyssek and Sandermann, 2003 ). For example, O3 may increase or decrease water use of trees ( Kitao et al., 2009; McLaughlin et al., 2007 ), reduce their C sequestration capacity ( Sitch et al., 2007 ) and alter the emissions of biogenic VOCs ( Cojocariu et al., 2005 ), which may act as O3 precursors in the atmosphere. As a strong oxidant, O3 plays a key role in atmospheric chemistry, and it is also an important GHG ( Isaksen et al., 2009 ). Deposition rates of O3 depend on both O3 concentrations and a variety of biogeochemical surface exchange processes. Stomatal conductances are expected to reduce in response to elevated CO2 concentrations ( Ainsworth and Rogers, 2007 ), while climate change may both enhance O3 production and suppress the stomatal uptake ( Solberg et al., 2008 ). Through interactions of this kind, O3 deposition to forests constitutes an integral part of the complex atmosphere–biosphere system that encompasses a range of feedback processes between forest vitality and productivity, atmospheric composition and the climate system ( Raes et al., 2010 ). The situation is further complicated by changes in the global O3 precursor emissions, which have enhanced the hemispheric background concentrations of O3 ( Isaksen et al., 2009 ).
In order to cause injury to vegetation, O3 molecules must penetrate the plant via stomata, where they react with the internal plant tissue and generate reactive oxygen species. The impact of the site water regime (represented by soil moisture and air humidity) on stomatal regulation is crucial for O3 uptake ( Matyssek et al., 2007 ). Stomatal uptake is the key determinant of plant-physiological responses, along with metabolic capacities of detoxification and repair, to be unravelled through free-air O3 fumigation approaches ( Karnosky et al., 2007 ). The total O3 deposition flux, representing both stomatal and non-stomatal removal, must also be measured for understanding the processes that control atmosphere–ecosystem exchange ( Fowler et al., 2009 ). Ozone can react with plant surfaces and soil, and with volatile compounds emitted by vegetation and soil ( Fowler et al., 2009 ). The existence of these multiple sinks makes it difficult to interpret O3 flux data, unless complementary measurements are available, as it is expected to be the case at supersites.
At such sites, O3 fluxes can be measured at an ecosystem scale using micrometeorological techniques and at a shoot/branch scale using enclosure techniques ( Then et al., 2008 ). In addition, stomatal uptake rates can be derived from the measurements of water vapour exchange, based on porometer (leaf scale), cuvette (shoot/branch scale), xylem sap flow (tree scale) and micrometeorological (ecosystem scale) techniques ( Nunn et al., 2010 ).
EC and aerodynamic gradient (AG) methods are the most common micrometeorological techniques employed for the measurement of O3 fluxes. The EC method is a more direct approach that depends on fewer theoretical assumptions than the AG method; however, EC requires fast-response (
The AG technique can be applied with more conventional, slow-response instruments, making it possible to measure O3 concentrations with standard UV photometry ( Zapletal et al., 2011 ). However, the AG technique is subject to more stringent theoretical limitations than EC, and also requires instruments that are able to resolve the small gradients typically observed over forest surfaces ( Baldocchi et al., 1988 ). The AG measurements are more prone to interference by biogenic emissions of reactive compounds; especially soil emissions of NO ( Dorsey et al., 2004 ). The applicability of AG is also limited by the existence of the so-called roughness sublayer above an aerodynamically rough surface, such as forest canopy ( Kaimal and Finnigan, 1994 ).
The micrometeorological methods provide an integrated measurement of the atmosphere–ecosystem exchange within the flux footprint, which has a longitudinal extent of a few hundred metres ( Vesala et al., 2008 ). This means that the measurement of O3 flux represents, within this area, all the possible deposition sinks discussed above, including the effect of any chemical reactions taking place in the airspace between the measurement height and the forest floor. To disentangle different deposition pathways, the total O3 fluxes are typically partitioned to stomatal and non-stomatal components by utilising the canopy-scale water vapour fluxes measured by EC ( Gerosa et al., 2007 ) or sap-flow techniques ( Nunn et al., 2010 ). EC does not distinguish between different vegetation layers and is not applicable when vegetation is wet, while the latter method requires consideration of the lag between the sap flow and transpiration.
Due to rapid chemical interactions between O3 and NOx, the determination of O3 budget should be coordinated with that of N budget ( Table 23.1 ). Multi-level flux and/or concentration measurements of O3 and NOx would provide supporting data for gaining a better understanding of the vertical distribution of O3 sinks. These data could be further augmented by automated chamber measurements of soil fluxes of NO and O3. In particular, removal through the reaction with NO in the trunk and canopy airspace may constitute a significant O3 sink, especially at night ( Dorsey et al., 2004 ).
In addition to NOx, reactions with BVOCs may significantly affect the O3 fluxes above forests. On-line BVOC concentration measurements can be accomplished by the proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry time of flight ( Lindinger et al., 1998 ). While PTR-MS provides a sufficiently short response time for the application of the EC technique, a PTR-MS/EC system effectively limits to one the number of the compounds to be measured at a time. For a more extended suite of BVOCs, PTR-MS should be combined with the disjunct EC method, in which non-synchronous time series of the short-term concentrations are generated by successive, cyclical measurement of individual compounds ( Rinne et al., 2007 ). Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the large non-stomatal deposition rates observed over forests can be explained by in-canopy gas-phase chemistry involving highly reactive, partly unidentified BVOCs ( Goldstein et al., 2004 ), or by heterogeneous decomposition of O3 at plant surfaces ( Fowler et al., 2009 ). For the latter process, it would be useful to augment the monitoring programme ( Table 23.1 ) by further ancillary measurements, such as surface wetness, which may enhance O3 deposition to foliage ( Altimir et al., 2006 ).
For improved partitioning of the total O3 flux, and to focus on individual tree parts such as sun-exposed and shade leaves, the ecosystem-scale flux measurements with micrometeorological techniques can be complemented by shoot-scale enclosure measurements. Different technical solutions are available for this ( Altimir et al., 2002 ).
Forest Damage
Identification of forest damage is progressing better than the mechanisms for making management decisions, most of which are currently based on empirical field trial results.
Related terms:
Download as PDF
About this page
SITE-SPECIFIC SILVICULTURE | Silviculture in Polluted Areas
General strategy
As the visible symptoms of forest damage appear long after ecosystem stability has become affected, and after a long period of invisible or latent damage, emergency measures are needed to help declining stands. Regular restorative measures, forming the basis of silviculture in polluted areas, should be preventive, aimed at an improvement of the ecological stability of stands in such a way that they will better resist future pollution impacts. The maintenance of forests in polluted areas requires more intensive management than in unpolluted areas, involving ‘soft’ techniques and highly skilled manual labor.
The health of forests depends not only on pollutant toxicity or soil nutritional quality but also on a number of other environmental factors, including climate, water supply, stand density and composition, weeds, pests, and pathogens. Therefore, the direct mitigation of pollution effects is only one of several options; any technically possible and economically feasible measure to improve forest growth could be used to maintain and improve the stability of forests suffering from pollution.
This article describes restorative measures that are likely to prevent or at least slow down forest deterioration in polluted areas. For commercial forests it is also important to promote the vigor of stands as well as to attempt to produce larger trees in a shorter time, as the stands may need to be cut prematurely. Shortening the rotation time is recommended so that trees are cut before they start to die from pollution, and also to minimize soil acidification, which increases with stand age; the latter is especially important for stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies). In the most polluted temperate forests, rotation times may be reduced by 20–40 years, and in moderately polluted forests by 10–20 years; forests subjected to low pollution load can be cut at the same interval as unpolluted forests. Large-scale curative measure should only be applied if they are likely to mitigate the expected adverse consequences of pollution impact for at least 20 years.
Nitrogen pollution on the local scale in Lithuania: vitality of forest ecosystems
Air pollution over the damaged forest zone
As compared to 1986–1987, when forest damages were in progress, accumulation of NH 4 + –N in snow during the winter of 1995–1996 decreased at an average of 3.4 times, NO3 − –N — more than twice and SO4 2– –S even by 19 times ( Table 1 ). A considerable decrease in the SO4 2– –S content may account not only for the above-mentioned reduced production rate, but also for the fact that since 1988 the fertilizer plant started using natural gas instead of oil.
| Variables | Years | Distance north-east from the plant (km) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 6.0 | 10.0 | ||
| PH | 1986–1987 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 5.4 |
| 1995–1996 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 6.0 | |
| NH4 + –N | 1986–1987 | 3.66 | 1.13 | 0.84 | 1.05 | 0.85 | 0.74 |
| 1995–1996 | 0.55 | 0.58 | 0.36 | 0.24 | 0.30 | 0.29 | |
| NO3 − –N | 1986–1987 | 2.46 | 0.76 | 0.84 | 0.38 | 0.38 | 0.56 |
| 1995–1996 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.33 | 0.35 | 0.27 | |
| SO4 2– –s | 1986–1987 | 2.12 | 1.25 | 0.74 | 0.89 | 0.80 | 0.72 |
| 1995–1996 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.02 | 0.07 | 0.03 | |
| Variables | Years | Distance north-east from the plant (km) | Non-industrial areas of Lithuania in 1994 ( Šopauskiene, 1996 ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | 1.5 | 5–6 | 8–10 | 20–22 | |||
| (SO2+SO4 2– )−S | 1988 | 151.2 | 52.8 | 63.0 | 28.2 | 32.4 | |
| 1996 | 16.2 | 9.6 | 12.0 | 9.3 | 9.0 | 11.7–13.8 | |
| (NH3+NH4 + )−N | 1988 | 76.3 | 57.8 | 81.4 | 77.2 | 11.5 | |
| 1996 | 20.2 | 40.3 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 10.8 | 8.9–9.5 | |
| (HNO3+NO3 − )−N | 1988 | 44.7 | 27.5 | 37.7 | 15.5 | 10.1 | |
| 1996 | 6.6 | 7.9 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 3.3–3.9 | |
| (NH3+NH4 + + | 1988 | 121.0 | 85.3 | 119.1 | 92.7 | 21.6 | |
| HNO3+NO3 − )−N | 1996 | 26.8 | 48.2 | 24.4 | 25.7 | 16.8 | 12.2–13.4 |
HEALTH AND PROTECTION | Diagnosis, Monitoring and Evaluation
Introduction
Over the last 30 years forest health became a popular issue together with the concern about acid rain, air pollution, and climate change. Terms like forest decline, and the German ‘Waldsterben’ (forest death) and ‘Neuartigen Waldschäden’ (new type of forest damage ) became frequent in scientific literature as well as in popular media. This concern resulted in an unprecedent effort to study and monitor forest health. Since then the situation has evolved and now forest health diagnosis and monitoring is relevant to a much broader area of interest, including recent (e.g., climate fluctuation and change, biodiversity, sustainable resource management) and ‘traditional’ issues (e.g., pests, diseases, forest fire). Broadly, forest health diagnosis, monitoring, and evaluation aims to identify forest health problems, track forest health status through time and identify its relationship with environmental (biotic and abiotic) factors. It embraces a variety of activities and involves several topics and scientific disciplines. Forest health diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation is addressed here in terms of (1) definitions, factors affecting forest health and most known forest health declines in the world, (2) methods of diagnosis, monitoring, and evaluation, and (3) relevance and applications.
Adaptation of Plants to Adverse Chemical Soil Conditions
17.3.1 Major Constraints
Acid soils, which are defined by a pH lower than 5.5 in their surface layers, comprise about 30% of the total ice-free land ( von Uexküll and Mutert, 1995 ), primarily in humid climates. Plant growth inhibition and yield reduction on acid soils results from a variety of specific chemical factors and their interactions ( Marschner, 1991b ). In acid mineral soils the major constraints to plant growth are toxicity of protons, Al and Mn and deficiency of Mg, Ca, P and Mo. The relative importance of these constraints depends upon plant species and genotype, soil type and horizon, parent material, soil pH, concentration and species of Al, soil structure and aeration, and climate. The N concentrations in acid mineral soils are generally low except in areas with high atmospheric input by air pollution ( Schulze, 1989 ). Aluminium toxicity and Ca and Mg deficiencies occur in more than 70% of the acid soils of tropical America, and nearly all of these soils are P deficient or have a high P-fixing capacity ( Sanchez and Salinas, 1981 ). Subsoil acidity is a potential growth limiting factor throughout many areas of the USA ( Foy et al., 1974 ) and of the tropics ( Van Raij, 1991 ).
Forest soils in many regions of the world are typically acidic. Concern has been expressed about the increasing acidification of forest soils by atmospheric emissions of SO2 and nitrogen oxides (‘acid rain’) being a major contributor to forest damage (forest decline), particularly in Europe and North America. Although the emission of SO 2 has been substantially reduced during the last 30 years, the emission of acid-producing NH3 mainly in areas of intensive livestock production continues to contribute to further acidification of natural ecosystems. There is still controversy about the importance of soil acidification in forest decline. Forest damage may also be related to (i) an increase in Al solubility and thus Al toxicity ( Murach and Ulrich, 1988 ), and (ii) a decrease in uptake of nutrients, particularly Mg, and thus Mg deficiency ( Zöttl and Huettl, 1986 ; Kaupenjohann et al., 1987 ; Liu and Huettl, 1991 ), and (iii) an increase in Mg and Ca deficiency due to high atmospheric N input ( Schulze, 1989 ; Aber et al., 1989 ).
Given the different ways in which soil acidity can restrict plant growth, plants adapted to acid mineral soils require a variety of mechanisms to cope with the adverse soil chemical factors ( Howeler, 1991 ). On a worldwide scale, high concentrations of Al, H + for some plant species, and in some locations also of Mn, are key factors of soil acidity stress, therefore high resistance to these three factors is required for adaptation particularly of crop plants to acid soils.
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES | Sulfur Cycle
Acidification
The production of sulfuric acid in air masses over industrialized continents led to the acid rain problem. This acidification was recognized by the mid-nineteenth century, initially as emissions of hydrochloric acid from the alkali and soap industry, but later coal combustion was also seen as an important source of acid. By the 1950s, long-term records of rainfall chemistry showed increasing fluxes of sulfuric acid to the ground. In Scandinavia, poorly buffered soils began to respond to the effects of acid rain and the pH of lakes declined, resulting in a loss of fish. Through the 1970s and more particularly the 1980s, acid rain became a keenly fought environmental issue, which led to a range of protocols in North America and Europe that served to limit the release of sulfur into the atmosphere.
Acids accumulated over the winter are concentrated into the first meltwaters of spring and send an acid shock through the environment. Young fish are readily injured, but amphibians such as frogs and salamanders also suffer. More generally the delicate ecological web that depends on the freshwater systems is affected. The debate over acid rain also examined the effects on forests. Forest damage arises from a complex array of factors that include air pollution (ozone, SO 2, acid rain, etc.) along with climate stress (i.e., drought), forest management practices, the age of stands, etc. Acidified rain could change the nutrient balance of soils (magnesium, potassium, and calcium) and mobilize toxic metals (aluminum, cadmium, zinc, etc.).
Damage to buildings is frequently seen as an important impact of acid rain, perhaps because we confront our urban fabric almost every day. It is exposed to the ravages of high concentrations of air pollution, which means that buildings have long been disfigured by sooty crusts. Hidden underneath these crusts damage takes place through the oxidation of deposited SO2. Stones build up thick gypsum (calcium sulfate) layers and metals are also prone to attack. In general, the deterioration of metal work and, to a lesser extent, stone has declined as SO2 concentrations have decreased in urban air.
There is now a decrease in the sulfur deposited in rain over Europe. This has led to complaints that some agricultural crops are now sulfur deficient. Although acid rain provided sulfur for crops, it is obviously important to remember its large-scale harmful effects before regretting its gradual elimination. Even though sulfur deposits have decreased in Europe, the acidity of rain has not always fallen to match this decline. Increases in nitric acid in air (from nitrogen oxides produced during combustion) and a decline in the alkaline content of the atmosphere may account for this. Today the acidification of rain has shifted geographically to tropical regions with fast-growing economies. Here there are new problems on ecosystems and land types quite different from those affected in Europe and North America.
Physical Transport, Heterogeneity, and Interactions Involving Canopy Anoles
Distribution and Abundance
Anolis stratulus, A. evermanni, and number of eggs per female lizard were each positively and significantly correlated with aerial arthropods captured in sticky traps (see Figure 15-9 ). Extrapolation of the stratulus regression to the arthropod abundance axis suggests that aerial arthropods may be more important for stratulus (248 arthropods m −2 12 hours −1 ) than for ever-manni (0 arthropods m −2 12 hours −1 ). This is consistent with dietary analysis (see Section II ) showing a greater proportion of aerial arthropods in stratulus diets than in evermanni diets (see Figure 15-7 ). The regression coefficients for lizard density on arthropods were not significantly different between the two species (F1,8 = 1.07, P = 0.45). Lizard densities did not correlate significantly with leaf sampled arthropods (Pearson’s r 2 = 0.02).
