Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania)
The research aims to evaluate the impact of local industrial pollution on radial growth in affected Norway spruce (<i>Picea abies</i> (L.) Karst.) and silver fir (<i>Abies alba</i> Mill.) stands in the Tarnița study area in Suceava. For northeastern Romania, the Tarnița minin...
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doaj-b54825892b594e068df66fdf621352532021-06-01T00:26:40ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072021-05-011264064010.3390/f12050640Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania)Cristian Gheorghe Sidor0Radu Vlad1Ionel Popa2Anca Semeniuc3Ecaterina Apostol4Ovidiu Badea5“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, Câmpulung Moldovenesc Station, 73 bis Calea Bucovinei, 725100 Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, Câmpulung Moldovenesc Station, 73 bis Calea Bucovinei, 725100 Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, Câmpulung Moldovenesc Station, 73 bis Calea Bucovinei, 725100 Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, Câmpulung Moldovenesc Station, 73 bis Calea Bucovinei, 725100 Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, 128 Eroilor Blvd., 077190 Voluntari, Romania“Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry, 128 Eroilor Blvd., 077190 Voluntari, RomaniaThe research aims to evaluate the impact of local industrial pollution on radial growth in affected Norway spruce (<i>Picea abies</i> (L.) Karst.) and silver fir (<i>Abies alba</i> Mill.) stands in the Tarnița study area in Suceava. For northeastern Romania, the Tarnița mining operation constituted a hotspot of industrial pollution. The primary processing of non-ferrous ores containing heavy metals in the form of complex sulfides was the main cause of pollution in the Tarnița region from 1968 to 1990. Air pollution of Tarnița induced substantial tree growth reduction from 1978 to 1990, causing a decline in tree health and vitality. Growth decline in stands located over 6 km from the pollution source was weaker or absent. Spruce trees were much less affected by the phenomenon of local pollution than fir trees. We analyzed the dynamics of resilience indices and average radial growth indices and found that the period in which the trees suffered the most from local pollution was between 1978 and 1984. Growth recovery of the intensively polluted stand was observed after the 1990s when the environmental condition improved because of a significant reduction in air pollution.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/5/640air pollutionincrement coresNorway spruceradial growth seriessilver fir |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Cristian Gheorghe Sidor Radu Vlad Ionel Popa Anca Semeniuc Ecaterina Apostol Ovidiu Badea |
spellingShingle |
Cristian Gheorghe Sidor Radu Vlad Ionel Popa Anca Semeniuc Ecaterina Apostol Ovidiu Badea Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania) Forests air pollution increment cores Norway spruce radial growth series silver fir |
author_facet |
Cristian Gheorghe Sidor Radu Vlad Ionel Popa Anca Semeniuc Ecaterina Apostol Ovidiu Badea |
author_sort |
Cristian Gheorghe Sidor |
title |
Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania) |
title_short |
Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania) |
title_full |
Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania) |
title_fullStr |
Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of Industrial Pollution on Radial Growth of Conifers in a Former Mining Area in the Eastern Carpathians (Northern Romania) |
title_sort |
impact of industrial pollution on radial growth of conifers in a former mining area in the eastern carpathians (northern romania) |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Forests |
issn |
1999-4907 |
publishDate |
2021-05-01 |
description |
The research aims to evaluate the impact of local industrial pollution on radial growth in affected Norway spruce (<i>Picea abies</i> (L.) Karst.) and silver fir (<i>Abies alba</i> Mill.) stands in the Tarnița study area in Suceava. For northeastern Romania, the Tarnița mining operation constituted a hotspot of industrial pollution. The primary processing of non-ferrous ores containing heavy metals in the form of complex sulfides was the main cause of pollution in the Tarnița region from 1968 to 1990. Air pollution of Tarnița induced substantial tree growth reduction from 1978 to 1990, causing a decline in tree health and vitality. Growth decline in stands located over 6 km from the pollution source was weaker or absent. Spruce trees were much less affected by the phenomenon of local pollution than fir trees. We analyzed the dynamics of resilience indices and average radial growth indices and found that the period in which the trees suffered the most from local pollution was between 1978 and 1984. Growth recovery of the intensively polluted stand was observed after the 1990s when the environmental condition improved because of a significant reduction in air pollution. |
topic |
air pollution increment cores Norway spruce radial growth series silver fir |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/5/640 |
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