Forest Health Its Assessment and Status

In this book the concepts of forest health and forest decline are examined in the light of the large amount of work that has been conducted on these subjects since the early 1980s. Many declines are shown to be unrelated to air pollution and, in other cases, the links between air pollution and the condition of the trees is extremely tenuous. Factors such as nutrient depletion due to past management practices and drought are shown to have had a major influence on the health of trees. In many cases, the evidence for a decline in tree condition is at best ambiguous and is not supported by a critical evaluation of the available data. A detailed examination of data collected in the British forest health monitoring programme over the last five years indicates the complexity of the process involved and illustrates the dangers of taking data from a single year at face value. The author also reviews forest declines elsewhere in Europe and in North and South America. The book represents a critical analysis of a subject of immense current concern and is essential reading for all advanced students, researchers and professionals in forestry, pollution and the environment.Innes, John L. is the author of 'Forest Health Its Assessment and Status' with ISBN 9780851987934 and ISBN 0851987931.