Southeastern Observations-- 
the Fourth Forest in 2050 
In spite of the difficulties in establishing definite 
causal links between pollutants, forest dieback, and 
dec 
reased productivity in the fourth forest of the 
Southeast, several observations indicate that in or- 
der 
to assure sustained growth in employment and 
income in the forest sector of the southern econo- 
my, 
programs and policies must be put in place to 
reduce the scale and rate of deposition of pollutants 
in the forest ecosystem: 
134 
In just a few years, forest damage has spread 
with frightening rapidity through portions of 
central Europe. Trees covering close to 10 mil- 
lion acres now show signs of injury often linked 
to air pollutants. A similar type of forest damage 
is now appearing in several areas of North 
America, including the fourth forest, particularly 
at high altitudes. On Mount Mitchell in North 
Carolina, for example, all trees at or near 6,350 
feet exhibit marked growth reductions, and re- 
searchers found no successful reproduction of 
woody plants at this altitude. Throughout this 
region, unexplained reductions in growth rates 
are being reported in a number of habitat types 
at a variety of elevations. 
Air pollutants and acids generated by industrial 
activities are now entering forests at an un- 
precedented scale and rate, greatly adding to 
stress on the forest. Many forests in Europe and 
North America now receive as much as 30 times 
more acidity that they would if rain and snow 
were falling through a pristine atmosphere. 
Ozone levels in many rural areas of Europe and 
North America are now regularly in the range 
known to damage trees. Despite air-quality im- 
provements made during the seventies, the av- 
erage concentration of sulfur dioxide in many 
areas is already high enough to diminish tree 
growth--and these pollutants are predicted to 
increase significantly in this region. 
In both West Germany and the United State the 
affected forests are located in areas that receive 
large atmospheric inputs of acidic substances 
and other pollutants. In Quebec, 82 percent of 
maples show evidence of necrosis and decline. 
At Camel's Hump in Vermont, and other New 
England sites, tree ring nalyses show unprece- 
dented growth reductions in the last 25 years. 
Growth rates of a number of southeastern 
species are down 30 to 50 percent from 
1957-86 survey period. 
Utility sulfur dioxide emissions are predicted to 
increase by at least 14 percent from 1980 to 
1995. Individual States listed in the table below 
predict sharp increases by 1995 and even high- 
er by 2000. 
Projected Increases in Sulfur Dioxide 
Emissions From Utility Plants 
(Percent above 1980 levels) 
State 1995 2000 
Arkansas 315% 375% 
Florida 37% 24% 
Georgia 16% 21% 
Mississippi 126% 132% 
Louisiana 624% 1,224% 
North Carolina 
and 
South Carolina 13% 20% 
Virginia 48% 62% 
