Effects of Spruce Plantation (Picea Abies Karst.) On the Soil Function of a Previous Broadleaved Ecosystem: Analytical and Experimental Investigations.

Forest soils are thought to change slowly in relation to environmental parameters such as bedrock, climate and the climax vegetation. At present, human activity is an important factor in the modification of natural systems, even under temperate climates. It acts in two ways: i) the increased influence of man in forest ecosystems due to the intensification of forest management, and ii) a large increase in wastes and particularly in air pollutants, since the beginning of the century which ultimately are incorporated into the natural systems, and provoke their acidification (1). There could be an interaction between these two processes when the introduction of a new forest species increases the level of atmospheric inputs.