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The Application of Cause-Effect Criteria to the Relationship between Air Pollution and Forest Decline in Europe

  • Chapter
Acid Deposition

Abstract

Many past studies relating forest decline to air pollution have failed to establish cause-and-effect, yet air pollution is widely regarded as the cause of forest decline. Recent work has enabled some hypotheses to be eliminated and the available evidence is beginning to suggest that the direct effects of gaseous air pollution may have been overestimated. The application of rigorous cause-effect criteria brings into question some of the common assumptions about the role of air pollution in forest decline in Europe. Most studies now consider the chemical status of the soil to be important and that acidic deposition, as well as natural factors, may influence this.

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  1. Alice Holt Lodge, Forestry Commission, Wrecclesham, Farnham, Surrey, UK

    John L. Innes

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  1. Acid Rain Information Centre, Department of Environment and Geographical Studies, Manchester Polytechnic, Chester Street, MI 5GD, Manchester, England

    James W. S. Longhurst

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Innes, J.L. (1991). The Application of Cause-Effect Criteria to the Relationship between Air Pollution and Forest Decline in Europe. In: Longhurst, J.W.S. (eds) Acid Deposition. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76473-8_5

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