Publisher © Czech Geological Survey, ISSN: 2336-5757 (online), 0514-8057 (print)
Development of mass element fluxes in geomon network of small catchments
Abstract
Six years (1994-1999) of hydrological and chemical data from GEOMON network of fourteen small forest catchments are now available. The data were acquired by an uniform sampling and analytical methodology. Bulk deposition, throughfall deposition and runoff of ecologically important components were measured on a monthly basis. This contribution is focused especially on the development in sulphur deposition and nitrogen fluxes. Significant decrease of sulphur deposition due to desulphurization was recorded in a large part of the territory of the Czech Republic. However, in the nothern part of the country (Orlické hory Mts.) deposition via throughfall is still high. This fact resulted in a new episode of forests die-back in this area in 1998 possibly similar to the most probable cause. In contrast, deposition of nitrate nitrogen has not decreased since 1994. Regional decrease resulting from reduction of emissions from large industrial sources was replaced by increasing traffic. The most apparent difference between the catchments with damaged forests was very high because they have lost their ability to take up nitrogen as a nutrient, whereas in relatively healthy forests it was markedly lower.
