The Liphook Forest Fumigation Project: an overview

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Abstract
The aim of the Liphook Project was to assess the effects of SO2 and O3, singly and in combination, on coniferous forest ecosystems. More than 4000 trees of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Sitka spruce (P. sitchensis) were fumigated for nearly 4 years using an open‐air fumigation technique especially developed for the purpose. The technique eliminated artifacts due to chambers and enabled a variety of effects of the pollutant gases on forest ecosystems to be studied. Most symptoms of forest decline did not occur, but each species reacted in a different way to SO2 stress, providing no evidence for universal forest decline symptoms. However, some of the mechanisms hypothesized to underlie forest declines were observed as an effect of SO2 treatment, though others were not, notably any major effect of O3. The results are assessed against proposed regulatory standards (critical loads and levels) for the protection of forest ecosystems against pollution.