Black spruce in the industrial area North-East Estonia

Mandre, M. . Forest Research Inst.

Black spruce in the industrial area North-East Estonia

2000

Mandre, M. (Estonian Agricultural Univ., Tartu (Estonia). Forest Research Inst.)

The present paper is based on experiments carried out with black spruce in the industrial area North-East Estonia. Two-year-old seedlings of black spruce were planted in a sample plot affected by a cement plant and by oil-shale processing enterprises and in an unpolluted control sample plot in 1990. At the end of the experiment in 1997 it was ascertained that the impact of industrial alkaline air pollution complexes resulting in the alkalisation and chemical deviations of growth conditions retards the height growth of trees and brings about a decrease in their biomass. The sturdiness quotient was higher and the Dickson quality index was lower than the control, indicating serious damages of trees under air pollution. Increasing share of needles in the total biomass in polluted areas in comparison with control trees suggest that compensation mechanism were started in trees to increase the assimilating mass in order to survive under stress. The state of young black spruces in alkalised industrial areas shows unsuitability of using this species in industrial areas

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