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Summary: CRITICAL LOADS OF ACIDITY FOR FOREST SOILS AND
RELATIONSHIP TO FOREST DECLINE IN THE NORTHERN
CZECH REPUBLIC
CECILIA AKSELSSON1, JONAS ARDÖ2 and HARALD SVERDRUP3
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, Sweden; 2 Department
of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, Lund, Sweden; 3 Department of Chemical
Engineering, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, Sweden
( author for correspondence, e-mail: cecilia.akselsson@chemeng.lth.se)
(Received 20 April 2003; accepted 18 September 2003)
Abstract. Critical load calculations in the Czech part of `the Black Triangle' show exceedance of
critical load in 75% of the forest area. A comparison with forest damage data shows an insignif-
icant tendency toward more forest damage in areas with high exceedance. We conclude that high
exceedance of critical load is a probable contributing factor to forest damage in the area.
Keywords: Black Triangle, critical loads, Czech Republic, forest decline, Simple Mass Balance, soil
acidification, sulphur deposition
1. Introduction
Forest conditions in parts of Europe have been deteriorating since the late 1970s
(Schütt and Cowling, 1985; UN/ECE and EC, 1997, 2000). One of the worst af-
fected areas is `the Black Triangle', in the mountainous area where the borders of
Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland intersect (Figure 1) (Cernı and Paces,
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