Soil properties under damaged spruce forests in the Martinské hole mountains
2006
Balkovič, J.,Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute, Bratislava (Slovak Republic) | Čemanová, G.,Comenius Univ., Bratislava (Slovak Republic)
Damage of spruce forests has been observed for several years in the Martinské hole Mts. This paper deals with an evaluation of soil conditions at sites where damaged trees grow. We mostly focused on aluminium and nutrient content and heavy metal loads. Studied soils, which are Haplic Podzols and Skeleti-Histic Podzols, are extremely acid with low Ca, Mg and K plant-available contents, and also available P occurs in deficient amounts. We observed a high content of exchangeable aluminium, which is known for its phytotoxicity. We also analysed Pb, Cr and Hg as toxic elements and there was observed lead contamination in soils and mercury overloads in needles. Also total Mg contents in the needles were insufficient when comparing with the optimum magnesium for the spruce tree. We suppose that these factors, together with surface water logging, reduce the vitality of spruce individuals and significantly participate to their degradation.
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