Pacific Southwest

Title: Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis of ecosystem response to industrial pollution in the Niepolomice Forest in southern Poland

Author: Weiner, January; Fredo-Boniecki, Stefan; Reed, David; Maclean, Ann; Strong, Marshall; Hyslop, Michael

Date: 1998

Source: In: Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Arbaugh, Michael J.; Schilling, Susan L., tech. coords. Proceedings of the international symposium on air pollution and climate change effects on forest ecosystems. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-166. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 187-196

Station ID: GTR-PSW-166

Description: The Niepolomice Forest is located near the city of Krakow in southern Poland. Since the erection of large iron works in the 1950's, the forest has suffered from heavy pollution with SO₂ and industrial dusts containing heavy metals. During the past 10 years, the ecology of the Niepolomice Forest has been intensively studied and the impact of industrial pollution has been significantly reduced. With the advent of modern computer intensive techniques, data gathered in the past have been reanalyzed with respect to the spatial and temporal variations of the forest ecosystem response to industrial pollution. In addition, the effects of natural conditions (soil, vegetation) and industrial pollution (heavy metals, sulfur dioxide) upon the pine stands (tree volume increment, crown injuries) in the Niepolomice Forest were studied by using a geographic information system. Procedures of statistical analysis involving bootstrapping were developed. Results suggest the apparent fertilization of forest stands as a result of industrial pollution--an effect not revealed in former studies.

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Citation

Weiner, January; Fredo-Boniecki, Stefan; Reed, David; Maclean, Ann; Strong, Marshall; Hyslop, Michael  1998.  Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis of ecosystem response to industrial pollution in the Niepolomice Forest in southern Poland.   In: Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Arbaugh, Michael J.; Schilling, Susan L., tech. coords. Proceedings of the international symposium on air pollution and climate change effects on forest ecosystems. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-166. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 187-196.