The Condition of Forests in Europe : 2006 Executive Report : Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests

Brüssel

2006

33 S.

Bandaufführung

133852

More than two decades ago Europe was alarmed by scenarios of air pollution effects causing catastrophic forest damage. The headlines have changed in the meantime. Measures in the field of clean air policies have been taken since then. Forest condition has deteriorated far less dramatically at the European scale than was feared in the early 1980s. The provision of a more detailed picture of forest condition in space and time and the establishment of an early warning system for European forests are among the main results of the joint onitoring under the International Cooperative Programme on the Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) and the European Union scheme ŃForest Focusń. However, in many regions various stress factors, including air pollution, affect forest condition considerably. Extreme drought and heat during the summer of 2003 contributed to the pronounced worsening of the condition of many of the main tree species in 2004, notably for beech and especially in central Europe. Only the defoliation of Scots pine is now clearly lower than in the mid 1990s. Crown condition has proved to be a valuable indicator to estimate the condition of trees in a relatively short time and with low costs. The inclusion of a new litterfall survey into the monitoring system is an additional opportunity to evaluate the link between defoliation and environmental stress factors.