Wet-deposited - sulphur and nitrogen pollutants and ambient ozone are important anthropogenic factors affecting forest health. Regular assessment of chemistry of throughfall and precipitation water based on two-week sampling started in 1997. Passive samplers for detection of ozone concentration have been exposed on a network of monitoring stations during vegetation periods since 1998. In addition, in selected locations, UV absorption monitors for continuous O3 measurements were installed in 1999

The study aims at assessing response patterns to chronic O3 exposure in adult forest trees, examining physiological and structural responses at the organ and whole-tree level for consistency by means of biochemical and ecophysiological analyses. Through comparison between the two O3 regimes, conclusions can be drawn about processes, which are at risk or already affected by ozone under the unchanged, prevailing stand conditions. Responses are related to the O3 influx into leaves as a measure of the physiologically effective O3 dose and cross-compared with the AOT 40 concept which is being validated on the two O3 fluxes and AOT40-related responses in biochemical, ecophysiological and structural tree parameters

Bark beetle populations were estimated periodically each year in 50 ha plots using a series of pheromone traps and through the dissection of 0.5 m sections of infested trees. Data were recorded on several parameters including the volume of infested trees, captures in pheromone traps, number of attacks, and the presence and relative abundance of related bark beetle species. In the period 2000-2001 3 transects were established in the High Tatra Mts., where captures in pheromone traps were recorded and compared with air pollution represented by ozone

Effects of elevated N deposition on forest aboveground biomass were evaluated using long-term data from N addition experiments and from forest observation plots in Switzerland. N addition experiments with saplings were established both on calcareous and on acidic soils, in 3 plots with Fagus sylvatica and in 4 plots with Picea abies. The treatments were conducted during 15 years and consisted of additions of dry NH4NO3 at rates of 0, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 kg N ha-1 yr-1. The same tree species were observed in permanent forest observation plots covering the time span between 1984 and 2007, at modeled N deposition rates of 12-46 kg N ha-1 yr-1. Experimental N addition resulted in either no change or in a decreased shoot growth and in a reduced phosphorus concentration in the foliage in all experimental plots. In the forest, a decrease of foliar P concentration was observed between 1984 and 2007, resulting in insufficient concentrations in 71% and 67% of the Fagus and Picea plots, respectively, and in an increasing N:P ratio in Fagus. Stem increment decreased during the observation period even if corrected for age. Forest observations suggest an increasing P limitation in Swiss forests especially in Fagus which is accompanied by a growth decrease whereas the N addition experiments support the hypothesis that elevated N deposition is an important cause for this development.

Stomatal O3 fluxes to a mixed beech/spruce stand (Fagus sylvatica/Picea abies) in Central Europe were determined using two different approaches. The sap flow technique yielded the tree-level transpiration, whereas the eddy covariance method provided the stand-level evapotranspiration. Both data were then converted into stomatal ozone fluxes, exemplifying this novel concept for July 2007. Sap flow-based stomatal O3 flux was 33% of the total O3 flux, whereas derivation from evapotranspiration rates in combination with the Penman-Monteith algorithm amounted to 47%. In addition to this proportional difference, the sap flow-based assessment yielded lower levels of stomatal O3 flux and reflected stomatal regulation rather than O3 exposure, paralleling the daily courses of canopy conductance for water vapor and eddy covariance-based total stand-level O3 flux. The demonstrated combination of sap flow and eddy covariance approaches supports the development of O3 risk assessment in forests from O3 exposure towards flux-based concepts.

Recent studies have demonstrated that natural abundance 15N can be a useful tool for assessing nitrogen saturation, because as nitrification and nitrate loss increase, δ15N of foliage and soil also increases. We measured foliar δ15N at 11 high-elevation spruce-fir stands along an N deposition gradient in 1987-1988 and at seven paired northern hardwood and spruce-fir stands in 1999. In 1999, foliar δ15N increased from -5.2 to -0.7[per thousand] with increasing N deposition from Maine to NY. Foliar δ15N decreased between 1987-1988 and 1999, while foliar %N increased and foliar C:N decreased at most sites. Foliar δ15N was strongly correlated with N deposition, and was also positively correlated with net nitrification potential and negatively correlated with soil C:N ratio. Although the increase in foliar %N is consistent with a progression towards N saturation, other results of this study suggest that, in 1999, these stands were further from N saturation than in 1987-1988. Foliar δ15N increased with increasing N deposition from Maine to NY, but decreased between 1987-1988 and 1999