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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

1999

Abstract

Potential response of forest soils to sulphur deposition in the Norwegian-Russian border area in the surroundings of the Pechenganikel smelters, the major sulphur emitters in the northern Europe, has been assessed with the PROFILE model. The release rate of base cations due to weathering range from 0.05 to 0.28 kmol(c)/ha/yr in the 0 - 50 cm soil layer, thus demonstrating the high sensitivity of the coarse and thin podzols studied. Calculated steady-state BC/Al values are significantly lower than the presumed critical value of 1, which indicate possible negative effect on vegetation through soil acidification. According to the model calculations future sulphur deposition have to be very low in order to stop the ongoing acidification and prevent vegetation damage. However, model assumptions, uncertainty in input data and critical chemical values applied implies that modelling results must be interpreted carefully

Abstract

Contamination of atmosphere and soils was found to be accompanied by the active participation of S, Ni, Cu and Fe in the biological cycle in the area adjacent to \"Petchenganickel\" group of smelting works. The content of Ni, Cu and S in pine needles near the works is as high as 0,7-1; 0,4-0,5 and 40-60 mmol/kg respectively, these values for metals being by an order of magnitude higher than those in unpolluted areas. With increase in the age of trees the content of N, P, K, Mg and S in pine needles decreases and the content of Ca, Al, Fe and Mn increases; accumulation of Ni and Cu in pine needles is usually observed near the smelting works.

Abstract

The objective structure of parameters of soil acidity and cation exchange properties of podzols affected by the emission of the Pechenganikel factory (the Kola Peninsula) is revealed. The multiparametric analysis of soil properties and the traditional correlation analysis complement one another. They point to the complex character of interrelations between soil properties in conditions of progressing human-induced acisification.

Abstract

Studies were undertaken in forest ecosystems of the northwestern Kola Peninsula, Russia and South-Varanger, Norway in the zone affected by the Pechenganikel smelter. The soils consist mainly of shallow sandy iron-humus-illuvial and iron-illuvial podzols on highly bouldery unsorted morainic deposits of course texture, fluvioglacial sands and bedrocks.Plant specimens were collected from 16 plots located at different distances from the source of emissions: Pinus sylvestris needles, bark and wood, dwarf shrub (Empetrum hermaphroditum, Vaccinium myrtillus and Vaccinium vitis-idaea ) leaves, wavy-hair grass (Deschampsia flexuosa), green mosses (Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi) and lichens (Cladina rangifirina [Cladonia rangiferina], and Cladina stellaris [Physcia stellaris]) were collected at the end of the growing season.Results showed that the elemental composition of the dominants of the tree, grass-shrub, and moss layers was affected by the sulfur and heavy metals from the source of pollution. The content of nickel and copper in pine needles near the smelter exceeded control levels by an order of magnitude and the content of sulfur exceeded it twofold, reaching toxic levels.In addition to the direct input of pollutants from the atmosphere, soil contamination by nickel and copper within a 30 km radius of the smelter will have adverse effects on mineral nutrition of plants.It is concluded that the disturbance of biological cycles because of the active involvement of pollutants and the decreased availability of nutrients results in retardation of plant growth, a reduction in forest biomass and alterations in plant succession and species composition that leads to simplification and death of forest ecosystems.

Abstract

The complex character of variations in acidity and cation exchange properties of forest podzols under the impact of atmospheric emissions from Pechenganikel plant in the Kola Peninsula was revealed using correlation and regression analyses. The high level of acidity and the depletion of upper horizons in exchangeable bases attest for the anthropogenic acidification of podzols in the affected zone of the plant.

Abstract

The area along the Norwegian-Russian border is threatened by air pollution from emission sources on the Kola Peninsula. A permanent network of 78 systematically chosen monitoring sites has been established in eastern Finnmark, Norway. Species abundance data from the ground vegetation have been recorded from 1320 systematically chosen permanent plots inside 66 of these sites, using frequency in subplots and visual estimates of percentage cover. Environmental variables were obtained for the whole site. Multivariate data analysis has been used to describe the variation in the species composition and to study its relation to environmental variables and pollution impact. The analyses show that much of the variation in the species composition, based on average species abundance at the sites, is well explained by different soil and climatic conditions. However, estimated SO2 deposition, Ni, and Cu in the soil, and Ni in Cladina tissue have also been found to be statistically significantly correlated with the variation in the species data, but they explain only a minor part of the variation. The pollution impact over several years may have lead to a reduced lichen cover in the bottom-layer vegetation. Further development in an either negative or positive direction can be detected by re-investigations of the monitoring sites.