Dry Deposition to the Forest Canopy and Surrogate Surfaces in Two Mediterranean Holm Oak Forests in Montseny (NE Spain)

The fluxes recovered from washing branches and surrogatesurfaces were compared for two holm oak (Quercus ilex L.)forests in the Montseny mountains (NE Spain) differentiallyexposed to pollution. For 5 periods in May and June 1996 afterexposures ranging between 68–189 hr, 6 metacrylate plates and 8branches were extracted with distilled water. Also, a sequentialwashing of branches was undertaken, with 5 min separationsbetween the 3 initial washes, one hour between the 3rd and the4th, and 6 hr between the 4th and the last one. The compositionwas analysed for PO43-, SO42-,NO3-, Cl, F, NH4+,Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cu, Pb, Mn, Co, Ni and Zn. The applied techniques were consistent in that dry deposition would accountfor the throughfall fluxes of NO3-, Cl-,Cu and Zn. Potassium and Mn would derive mostly from leaching and their fluxes were strongly related with the holm oak flower growth. ForMg2+ and SO42- either leaching or impaction of small particles or gases (for SO42-) could account forthe recovered fluxes. Also for Na+ and Ca2+ the experiments did not produce conclusive results. Ammonium, F, Pb,Co, and Na were under the detection limit of analyticaltechniques in the plate-wash. The exposed site presented higherleaf-wash and plate-wash fluxes for all elements. This wasattributed to its higher exposure to pollutants, and forleaching-derived elements, to its higher site fertility.