Effects of pollutants from an aluminium reduction plant on forest ecosystems

Abstract

Pollution problems in forest ecosystems resulting from 40 years of operation of an aluminium smelter complex in Slovakia are reviewed. Data on fluorine, arsenic, sulphur and heavy metals in dust-fall, in the individual components of the forest environment, such as phytophagous insects, wild mammals, mosses and trees, are reported for three zones of pollution. In the surroundings of Žiar nad Hronom, Slovakia, the flora and fauna are seriously affected.