Pollution control enhanced spruce growth in the "Black Triangle" near the Czech-Polish border.
Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands in certain areas of Central Europe have experienced substantial dieback since the 1970s. Understanding the reasons for this decline and reexamining the response of forests to acid deposition reduction remains challenging because of a lack of long and well-replicated tree-ring width chronologies. Here, spruce from a subalpine area heavily affected by acid deposition (from both sulfur and nitrogen compounds) is evaluated. Tree-ring width measurements from 98 trees between 1000 and 1350m above sea level (a.s.l.) reflected significant May-July temperature signals. Since the 1970s, acid deposition has reduced the growth-climate relationship. Efficient pollution control together with a warmer but not drier climate most likely caused the increased growth of spruce stands in this region, the so-called "Black Triangle," in the 1990s.
Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: koldatom@gmail.com.
Tomáš
T
Kolář
Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Petr
P
Čermák
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Biogeochemistry, Czech Geological Survey, Klárov 3, 118 21 Prague, Czech Republic.
Filip
F
Oulehle
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology, Faculty of Agronomy, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Miroslav
M
Trnka
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Regional Office Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
Petr
P
Štěpánek
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Pavel
P
Cudlín
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Biogeochemistry, Czech Geological Survey, Klárov 3, 118 21 Prague, Czech Republic.
Jakub
J
Hruška
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Bern, Switzerland.
Ulf
U
Büntgen
Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic; Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic v.v.i, Bělidla 986/4a, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Michal
M
Rybníček
D015258:Acid Rain; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003604:Czechoslovakia; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D028222:Picea / Q000254:growth & development*; D011044:Poland; D013455:Sulfur / Q000032:analysis
D015258:Acid Rain; D000393:Air Pollutants; D013455:Sulfur; D009584:Nitrogen
Air pollution; Central Europe; Dendroecology; Forest growth; Norway spruce