title: Long-term patterns in soil acidification due to pollution in forests of the Eastern Sudetes Mountains.
abstract: Soil acidification was assessed in the Eastern Sudetes Mountains (Czech Republic) between 1941 and 2003, i.e. before and after the period of major industrial pollution (1950s-1990s). The twenty sites included in our study were distributed along a gradient of altitude ranging 1000 m. Values of pH have decreased in 80-90% of the pairs of samples after the six decades, on average by 0.7 for pH-H(2)O and 0.6 for pH-KCl. Organic matter increased in the topsoil, probably reflecting a change in decomposition conditions. The most important finding is that the acidification varies along the joint gradient of altitude/tree layer composition, and displays a changing pattern in three soil horizons (A, B and C). Contrary to expectations, most acidified were soils in beech forests at lower elevations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Lidická 25/27, CZ-602 00 Brno, Czech Republic. radim.hedl@ibot.cas.cz
authors.forename: Radim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hédl
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petřík
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boublík
mesh_terms: D018153:Czech Republic; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D029964:Fagus / Q000254:growth & development; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014197:Trees / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants