Maciej Filipiak, Anna Napierała-Filipiak
Effect of canopy density on the defoliation of the European silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) due to heavy industrial pollution
Dendrobiology 2009, vol. 62: 17-22
Abstract: Until recently, the level of industrial air pollution in the Sudetes (a mountain range extending on the Czech Republic and Poland border) was very high.This caused a large-scale forest decline, especially in the western part of the Polish Sudetes: in the Izerskie and Karkonosze Mts. An analysis of data on fir defoliation in that area, collected directly after the period of heavy industrial pollution, showed a clear dependence of the degree of defoliation of the primary crown on canopy density: the lower the density, the higher the degree of defoliation.
Additional key words: air pollution, crown defoliation, crown regeneration, ecology