Technical Bulletin No. 0523: Tree Rings and Forest Mensuration: How Can They Document Trends in Forest Health and Productivity

Reports of forest damage and declining tree growth rates in Europe and North America were receiving considerable attention in the debate on ecological effects of atmospheric deposition. Many articles in the popular and scientific press have claimed that forests near industrial regions are undergoing severe reductions in health and productivity which are not attributable to natural ecological stresses. An objective analysis, however, reveals that available methods were often unable to (a) quantify trends in the health and productivity of forests or (b) determine the cause of trends that are detected.