CHANGES IN A FOREST LANDSCAPE AFFECTED
BY ALKALINE INDUSTRIAL DUST
M. MANDRE
Institute of Ecology
Tallinn, Estonia
| The impact of strongly alkaline dust emitted from the cement industry on the environment was
studied in natural forest ecosystems. The accumulation of Ca, K, Mg and trace metals in
precipi- tation (snow, rain) and in upper horizons of forest soil is in good correlation with the total air pollution load. As a result of the alkalization of environment, the mobility and solubility of some contaminants has decreased, and nutrition processes of vegetation have become complicated. This has brought about a decrease in the volume increment of forest stands and changed the initial composition of forest stands with an Oxalis-Myrtillus dominated understorey. This paper introduces the research conducted over ten years on the general topic of the impact of the pollution from the cement industry to the environment. The investigations have been carried out on a territory influenced by a cement plant in north-east Estonia (Kunda). |