Abstract
In the early 1980s heavy mortality of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg. on mountains in the northeastern USA was recognized as a region-wide phenom enon (36). At about the same time, reports of forest decline in the Federal Republic of Germany were common in the scientific literature and popular press. Aluminum toxicity to roots resulting from acid deposition and ozone induced carbon budget alterations were the most prominent of the early German hypotheses. Mountain top forests of the eastern U.S. are frequently immersed in highly acidic cloudwater (47), elevated ozone (54), and other pollutants: since there were no consistent, obvious biological causes, hypoth eses were advanced that included airborne chemicals as possible causes of red spruce mortality. Those claims were regarded with skepticism by many, since outside southern California, no regional-scale forest health problems had been demonstrated to be the result of air pollution. The scientific debate that ensued brought together forest pathologists, atmospheric scientists, tree physiolo gists, soil scientists, forest mensurationists, dendroclimatologists, and forest
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