The Tree-Ring Method of Estimation of the Effect of Industrial Pollution on Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Tree Stands in the Northern Part of the Sandomierz Basin (SE Poland)
2016
Barniak, Joanna | Krąpiec, Marek
In the last 40 years of the twentieth century, as a result of the growth in the exploitation and industrial processing of sulphur, the northern part of the Sandomierz Basin was one of the most polluted areas of Poland. Forests growing in this region, predominantly the Scots pine, offered an opportunity to analyse the degradation of the environment during that period using the dendrochronological method. The study was based on 814 samples, taken from 53 research surfaces belonging to nine linear transects. The investigations demonstrated that the highest reduction in growth occurred during the years 1970–1990. After that period, a considerable improvement in the condition of the pine trees was observed in most of the research plots. The spatial schedule of the trees with reductions reveals a clear relationship with the distance from the emitter i.e. the reductions were significantly lower in more distant sites. A distinct weakening of the trees is also indicated by missing rings, recorded in the years: 1964, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1990, and 2002. A definite impact on the condition of the tree stands was also due to the cone of depression around the Jeziórko mine, the post-flotation landfills, as well as pollution on a regional scale.
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