Are airborne organic pollutants subject to a ?forest filter effect??

• Published in: Stochastic environmental research and risk assessment Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 244 - 248
• Main Authors: Wegmann, F., Scheringer, M., M ller, M., Hungerb hler, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer Nature B.V 01.10.2003
• Subjects: Chemical filters; Coniferous forests; Ecology; Foliage; Forests; Grasslands; Pollutants; Seawater; Soils; Vegetation
• ISSN: 1436-3240; 1436-3259
• DOI: 10.1007/s00477-003-0139-3

This article focuses on the effect of degradation in air and vegetation on the occurrence and extent of the Forest Filter Effect (FFE). A five-compartment model is used, consisting of tropospheric air, surface ocean, vegetation, vegetation-covered soil, and bare soil to compare the steadystate results from this model (henceforth called VegeZoMo) with results from a model without vegetation and the vegetation-covered soil included into the bare soil compartment (henceforth called NoVegeZoMo). All processes not affected by vegetation are identical in both models. 25% of the surface of the model system are covered by vegetation, 71% by seawater and 4% by bare soil (global averages). The vegetation is described by parameters for foliage-air partitioning, gaseous and particle deposition, leaf fall etc. Values for grassland and deciduous and coniferous forests are combined in a global average.