Soil microorganisms are important for plant growth and beneficial for the nutrition and the development of a variety of soil animals. Together with soil invertebrates they also improve nutrients availability in soils. Although not frequent in Europe , magnesite emissions can affect the nutritional status of the vegetation and the survival of soil microorganisms as well as other biota locally, and thus may be crucially responsible for the quality of the entire biotic system. The observed gradients of soil microbial characteristics reflect the physico-chemical properties of soils around the magnesite plant and may be used to predict transitory changes during amelioration

A DIRT (Detritus Input and Removal Treatments) experiment was initiated at the Sikfokut Forest LTER site in Hungary in November 2000. This study was designed to evaluate how sources and quantities of litter inputs control nutrient cycling and carbon storage in forest soils across sites with different climate, C and N status. Sikfokut Forest was selected for its high N deposition rate compared the Harvard Forest LTER, Bousson Forest and Andrews Forest LTER DIRT experiment sites in the United States. Trends in soil enzyme phosphatase and beta-glucosidase activity at Sikfokut indicate that the microbial community there is already clearly responding to reduced litter availability after only two years of treatment

Taking into account the results of environmental monitoring in forest ecosystems (European Level I- and II-Programme) showing high degrees of soil acidification and still a widespread exceedance of critical loads by deposited sulphur and nitrogen compounds, the programme of differentiated forest protection liming should continue with site specific doses. On the other hand the programme to restore forest ecosystems with higher stability and to a large extent balanced nutrient cycles has to be carried out in order to minimize internal acid-generating processes

45 sites were selected and sampled on the transects and according to the first results of the spatial analysis, 15 more sites were added where useful for the optimal interpolation. Topsoils were sampled including both the soil organic horizons and the more superficial mineral horizon, frequently E, if reached. The depth of the organic horizons, the grass cover, ranked by its hydrophilic character, related to the incipient hydromorphy visible where Norway spruce is more declining, and the Norway spruce health status were systematically recorded