Since 1990 the investigations of quality of some components of nature environment were carried out on selected permanent plots in Protected Landscape Area Ponitrie focused on pollutant contents. The increased concentration of pollutants in precipitation from the top of the Vtacnik Mts. indicates firstly the effect of the nearby thermal power station, secondly documents an increased immission load on forest ecosystems in ridge positions of these mountains

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is presently being used in several projects on air pollution studies supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Plenipotentiaries of the country members of JINR. They involve moss and lichen biomonitoring techniques and GIS technology for constructing geographical maps of atmospheric deposition patterns of key heavy metals and a number of additional elements. Multi-element INAA is considered to be a reference analytical technique providing most reliable results for the bulk elemental content due to the non-destructive way of sample preparation for analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used for determination of element concentration in 10 year old segments of lime wood in extremely polluted area in Central Spis. We found the highest concentrations of Al, As, Au, Br, Cl, K, Na, Rb, Sb and Sm in the oldest 80-90 year old forest. The same elements were determined in atmospheric deposition with moss bio-monitoring technique. In the area of Central Spis we found in comparison with Norwegian limit values exceeded levels for the elements as given similarly for comparison with Magnitogorsk in Ural Mountains

Forest soil condition in Slovakia harmonised with the programme ICP Forests has been monitored since 1988. There are presented some results of the first complete survey for 111 observation plots and three sampling depths (overlaying humus layer, 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm layer of mineral soil). Geological and geochemical diversity has resulted in rather differentiated forest soil condition and soil properties in Slovakia. That has strong effect on sensitivity to soil acidification as well as it brings other risks of air pollution impact

Ozone is a well-known phytotoxic agent causing damage to vegetation in parts of North America and Europe. Transboundary or long-range transport of ozone from Western Europe and the generation of ozone from local and regional precursors results in increasing ozone concentrations in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Carpathian Mountaians. Other air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and heavy metals may also affect the health of Carpathian forests. During the 2000-2002 summer seasons, concentrations of ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ammonia were monitored with passive samplers. Results of those measurements will be used for development of GIS models of spatial and temporal distribution of air pollutants

Ailanthus altissimia Desf. is a non-native species spread throughout the Southern Europe as invasive plant. It demonstrated to be very sensitive to ozone and ozone-polluted environment, develops brownish stipples on the upper leaf surface. In the 2001 summer 12 young plants were placed in a site near the city of Florence (Italy), where high levels of ozone were experienced. Six of them were regularly watered and six were watered only when the wilting of their leaves was evident. Regular assessments were done during the experiment. They concerned growth, production of new leaves, dead and shedding of old leaves, visible symptoms of damage, stomatal conductance and CO2 uptake, chlorophyll fluorescence. The results suggest that the sensitivity to ozone of watered plants is connected to their higher growth ratio and stomatal conductance. Ozone plays a more important role than drought in producing foliar stress conditions

Needle retention, needle density, height and radial increments were surveyed on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in four forest regions, In the each forest region research was conducted on seven about 45-year-old pines. The Needle Trace Method (NTM) was used to determine needle retention and needle density along the main stem retrospectively for the last four decades. The NTM invented by Kurkela and Jalkanen is based on the examination of the vascular bundles connecting the needles and shoot pith. There are presented the long-term average values of needle retention in the particular forest regions, their differences. Needle retention and needle density reflected air pollution stress on the pines

Remarkable differences were found in soil development on three sites. At Modru Dul (the least damaged site) Sopdosols and Inceptisols were found, in Alzbetinska (moderately damaged) Entisols are common, while in Mumlavksa hora (highly damaged) the representative soils are several kind of Podzols, with variable degree of drainage restriction and organic soils. The heavy metal content is always rather low and the vertical distribution does not indicate any appreciable contribution of atmospheric contamination

The magnesite plants Jelsava and Lubenik emitted in the 80s 30 000 tons of magnesite dust and heavy metals and 4000 tons of SO2 per year, what caused an extreme damage to the vegetation in the area around of about 500 km2. For the determination of 3 zones of endangerment we used pollution index values. In each pollution zone we demarcated experimental plots and carried out soil analyses. Forest stands polluted by magnesite dust belong to alkaline air pollution type

The average defoliation of the sites located in the western part significantly increased in 2000, probably as a result of massive needle yellowing and shedding, and the G/A bud ratio decreased for all of the sites what reflected in reduction of crown regeneration. We suppose that a further increase of crown defoliation due to exceedance of stress threshold may trigger tree defensive reactions and replacement of the loss of assimilative organs