The Effect of Environmental Conditions on Pollution Deposition and Canopy Leaching in Two Pine Stands (West Pomerania and Świętokrzyskie Mountains, Poland)

Abstract

This study analyzed the effect of atmospheric deposition on canopy leaching processes in stands predominantly composed of Scots pines. The research was conducted in two stands: the first located in the southwestern part of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains in the area known as Białe Zagłębie (Malik), and the second in the northwestern part of Poland in Western Pomerania (Czarne). The study was conducted in the hydrological years 2010–2013. The goal of the study was to assess the chemical transformation of precipitation as a result of various human activities. In Malik, the main factor that determined the physicochemical and chemical properties of throughfall was the cement/lime dust emitted by nearby industrial plants, which not only affected the quantity of deposit but also contributed to the alkalization process of throughfall. By contrast, the main source of pollution in Czarne, where local emitters are absent, was long-distance transport. We conducted a principal component analysis (PCA) in both stands that produced components representing local pollution (Malik) and long-distance transport (Czarne). For the stand in Czarne, sea aerosols were an important source of Na+ and Cl− ions in precipitation. In both stands, the highest enrichment ratio (ER) values were recorded for K+ ions. The contribution of leaching processes to the bulk deposition of K+ ions in Malik was 85.8%, whereas in Czarne, it was 73.8%. Regardless of the degree of anthropopressure, the intensity of quantitative and qualitative transformation in pine stands was comparable.