engleski

Prospects for a regional assessment of forest soil chemistry dynamics in Croatia: Application of the SAFE model to a forested site in the region of mt. Medvednica

Currently, only 4.4 % of the forested area in Croatia has been mapped in terms of the critical load of acidity, with exceedances reported for a couple of sites in the region of Gorski Kotar. However, the eastern part of Croatia, which has had a high acid atmospheric load, has not yet been mapped and as a result the exceedance in the critical load of acidity will probably be much larger than the one currently reported. Therefore, it is important to assess the prospects of a regional assessment of forest soil chemistry with dynamic acidification models that can answer questions related to the recovery of forest soils after a drop in the acid atmospheric load. We applyed the dynamic biogeochemical model SAFE to a forested site in the region of Mt. Medvednica, Croatia, with input data obtained from available national databases and the published literature. Simulation results show that the soil at the site did acidify with pH and base saturation decreasing significantly from pre-industrial levels. The simulated soil [Bc]/[Al] molar ratio exceeded the critical limit in the second (Bw) and third (BwC) soil horizon, indicating that the forest at the site will likely encounter adverse effects. However, under the current deposition scenario, the site will recover fully from acidification by 2026. This modelling exercise pointed out that existing national datasets are not sufficient to fully parameterise SAFE. Therefore, the SAFE model might not be currently suitable for a regional assessment of forest soil acidification and recovery in Croatia.

dynamic modelling; SAFE; initSAFE; MAKEDEP; soil acidification; regional databases; critical load

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