Effect of acidic fog on needle surface and water relations of Picea abies

Young spruce trees Picea abies (L.) Karst.) exposed to acidic fog (pH 3) showed a disintegration of the epicuticular waxes of the current year's needles as compared with trees treated with a fog of pH 5. The fog treatment was followed by a period in which the trees received different water supply. Under water stress conditions, trees that had been exposed to the acidic fog showed significantly higher transpiration rates than control trees that were treated with a fog of pH 5. The water loss of the controls was 0 at the middle of the photoperiod, while the trees pretreated with acidic fog still showed a substantial transpiration rate at this time. Water loss of excised twigs measured in the dry atmosphere of a desiccator also provided evidence that the water holding capacity of needles pretreated with acidic fog was affected. There is evidence that particularly the cuticular transpiration was increased by pretreatment with acidic fog. The xylem water potential of twigs pretreated with acidic fog was significantly lower than that of twigs pretreated with a fog of pH 5, while the osmotic potential was not affected by the different fog treatments. It is suggested that in draught years trees with a damaged cuticle caused by acidic fog will be affected in their resistance against water stress. In this way acidic fog could be involved in forest decline now widely spread in Central Europe.