Overview

In November 1981 a first symposium with the topics of "Acid Deposition of Atmospheric Pollutants" was organised in OberursellTaunus to introduce the problems and first results of research-activities on wet and dry deposition of pollutants and on acid precipitation. In the meantime the hazard to forest and vegetation became more dramatic and research-projects to investigate the input of pollutants to forest-ecosystems have been initiated by several interdisciplinary groups. The rapidly increasing interest in the problems of forest- decay and the many open questions with respect to the diagnosis of the forest-damage were the background for the organisation of a second symposium which was held in November 1985 at the same location in Oberursel/Taunus. It was mainly concerned with new techniques of sampling and analyzing pollutants in forest areas. Besides deposition, one important pathway of pollutants in orographic terrain is the interception of fog-droplets by vegetation. Special emphasis was laid on the chemical composition of fog. The symposium successfully assembled scientists from the field of atmospheric research with those studying the effect of pollutants on trees and vegetation in order to reduce the many open questions in connection with forest desease. The proceedings presented in this volume are a substantial contribution to the understanding of deposition and interception of pollutants in forest-areas. Thanks to the authors the volume contains a lot of new research -results and presents therefore a true picture of our present knowledge.