Despite the importance of vegetation uptake of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)) within the global Hg cycle, little knowledge exists on the physiological, climatic, and geographic factors controlling stomatal uptake of atmospheric Hg(0) by tree foliage. We investigate controls on foliar stomatal Hg(0) uptake by combining Hg measurements of 3569 foliage samples across Europe with data on tree species' traits and environmental conditions. To account for foliar Hg accumulation over time, we normalized foliar Hg concentration over the foliar life period from the simulated start of the growing season to sample harvest. The most relevant parameter impacting daily foliar stomatal Hg uptake was tree functional group (deciduous versus coniferous trees). On average, we measured 3.2 times higher daily foliar stomatal Hg uptake rates in deciduous leaves than in coniferous needles of the same age. Across tree species, for foliage of beech and fir, and at two out of three forest plots with more than 20 samples, we found a significant (p<0.001) increase in foliar Hg values with respective leaf nitrogen concentrations. We therefore suggest that foliar stomatal Hg uptake is controlled by tree functional traits with uptake rates increasing from low to high nutrient content representing low to high physiological activity. For pine and spruce needles, we detected a significant linear decrease in daily foliar stomatal Hg uptake with the proportion of time during which water vapor pressure deficit (VPD) exceeded the species-specific threshold values of 1.2 and 3 kPa, respectively. The proportion of time within the growing season during which surface soil water content (ERA5-Land) in the region of forest plots was low correlated negatively with foliar Hg uptake rates of beech and pine. These findings suggest that stomatal uptake of atmospheric Hg(0) is inhibited under high VPD conditions and/or low soil water content due to the regulation of stomatal conductance to reduce water loss under dry conditions. Other parameters associated with forest sampling sites (latitude and altitude), sampled trees (average age and diameter at breast height), or regional satellite-observation-based transpiration product (Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model: GLEAM) did not significantly correlate with daily foliar Hg uptake rates. We conclude that tree physiological activity and stomatal response to VPD and soil water content should be implemented in a stomatal Hg model to assess future Hg cycling under different anthropogenic emission scenarios and global warming.

Atmospheric acid deposition has increased sharply since the beginning of industrialization but has decreased considerably since the 1980s owing to clean-air policies. Soil acidification induced by an input of acidity has been demonstrated in numerous studies using repeated forest-soil inventories. So far, relatively few data have been sampled to analyze long-term soil trends and only a few studies show the recovery of forest soils from acidification, whereas the recovery of surface waters following declining acid deposition is a widespread phenomenon. To assess a possible recovery from acid deposition, soil resampling data from 21 forested permanent soil-monitoring sites in Lower Saxony (Germany) were evaluated. For most sites, at least three repetitions of inventories from a period of 30 to 50 years were available. Trend analyses of indicators for the acid-base status of unlimed forest soils using generalized additive mixed models (GAMM) show either a trend reversal or a stagnation of the acid-base status at a strong acidification level. The recovery, if indicated by an increase of soil pH and base saturation, of soils from plots with deciduous trees appears to have occurred faster than in coniferous forest stands. This observation may be attributed to a larger amount of temporarily stored sulfur in the soil because of the higher atmospheric input into coniferous forests. As indicators for the acid-base status still show considerable soil acidification, mitigation measures such as forest liming still appear to be necessary for accelerating the regeneration process.

The North German Lowland is a region with locally high nitrate (NO₃⁻) concentrations in seepage water, inducing an increased susceptibility to the effects of climate change. The future risk of rising NO₃⁻ concentrations in seepage water from forests was quantified for four regions in the North German Lowland using climate projections and a modelling system comprising submodels for forest stand development (WaldPlaner), water budgets (WaSiM-ETH), and biogeochemical element cycles (VSD+). The simulations for the period from 1990 to 2070 included three different forest management scenarios (reference, biodiversity, and climate protection) and showed a general decrease in groundwater recharge which could hardly be influenced by any of the management options. The simulated soil organic matter stocks adequately represented their past increase as expected from the National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI), but also showed a future decline under climate change conditions which leads to higher organic matter decomposition and a long-lasting increase of NO₃⁻ leaching from forest soils. While the climate protection oriented scenario shows the highest increase in NO₃⁻ concentrations during the projection period until 2070, the biodiversity scenario kept NO₃⁻ concentrations in seepage water below the legal thresholds in three of four selected model regions.

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) has exceeded its demand for plant increment in forest ecosystems in Germany. High N inputs increased plant growth, the internal N cycling within the ecosystem, the retention of N in soil and plant compartments, and the N output by seepage water. But the processes involved are not fully understood, notably the effect of fructification in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) on N fluxes. The frequency of fructification has increased together with air temperature and N deposition, but its impact on N fluxes and the sequestration of carbon (C) and N in soils have been hardly studied. A field experiment using ¹⁵N-labeled leaf litter exchange was carried out over a 5.5-year period at seven long-term European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) monitoring sites to study the impact of current mast frequency on N cycling. Mean annual leaf litterfall contained 35 kg N ha⁻¹, but about one-half of that was recovered in the soil 5.5 years after the establishment of the leaf litter ¹⁵N exchange experiment. In these forests, fructification occurred commonly at intervals of 5 to 10 years, which has now changed to every 2 years as observed during this study period. Seed cupules contributed 51 % to the additional litterfall in mast years, which creates a high nutrient demand during their decomposition due to the very high ratios of C to N and C to phosphorus (P). Retention of leaf litter ¹⁵N in the soil was more closely related to the production of total litterfall than to the leaf litterfall, indicating the role of seed cupules in the amount of leaf N retained in the soil. Higher mast frequency increased the mass of mean annual litterfall by about 0.5 Mg ha⁻¹ and of litterfall N by 8.7 kg ha⁻¹. Mean net primary production (NPP) increased by about 4 %. Mean total N retention in soils calculated by input and output fluxes was unrelated to total litterfall, indicating that mast events were not the primary factor controlling total N retention in soils. Despite reduced N deposition since the 1990s, about 5.7 out of 20.7 kg N ha⁻¹ deposited annually between 1994 and 2008 was retained in soils, notably at acid sites with high $\mathrm{N}/\mathrm{P}$ and $\mathrm{C}/\mathrm{P}$ ratios in the organic layers and mineral soils, indicating P limitation for litter decomposition. Trees retained twice as much N compared to soils by biomass increment, particularly in less acidic stands where the mineral soils had low $\mathrm{C}/\mathrm{N}$ ratios. These results have major implications for our understanding of the C and N cycling and N retention in forest ecosystems. In particular the role of mast products in N retention needs more research in the future.

A reliable quantification of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) deposition to forests is required for the evaluation of ecological effects of TIN inputs to forests and to monitor the success of clean-air policy. As direct measurements are scarce, different modeling approaches have been developed to estimate TIN deposition to forests. Three common methods are the (i) “canopy budget model,” (ii) “inferential method,” and (iii) “emission based estimates” using a chemical transport model. Previous studies have reported considerable and site-specific differences between these methods, complicating the interpretation of results. We use data from more than 100 German intensive forest monitoring sites over a period of 16 years for a cross-comparison of these approaches. Non-linear mixed-effect models were applied to evaluate how factors like meteorology, terrain and stand characteristics affect discrepancies between the model approaches. Taking into account the uncertainties in deposition estimates, there is a good agreement between the canopy budget and the inferential method when using semi-empirical correction factors for deposition velocity. Wet deposition estimates of the emission based approach were in good agreement with wet-only corrected bulk open field deposition measurements used by the other two approaches. High precipitation amounts partly explained remaining differences in wet deposition. Larger discrepancies were observed when dry deposition estimates are compared between the emissions based approach and the other two approaches, which appear to be related to a combination of meteorological conditions and tree species effects.