Common spruce

Norway spruce; scientific name: Picea abies
Common spruce
Photo: UPB-Projektgruppe Trier

A major primary producer in semi-natural and anthropogenic affected ecosystems.

Its suitability as a specimen type for the Environmental Specimen Bank is founded on its economic and ecological significance, our considerable understanding of its ecology, population genetics, sensitivity and patterns of accumulation in relation to many hazardous substances.

The target organ is the one-year-old shoot which, when sampled in spring  from February to late May before sprouting begins, presents a comprehensive picture of winter pollution in the environment, unlike the deciduous beech and poplar.

Guideline for Sampling and Sample Treatment Norway Spruce (Picea abies) / Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Target organs/Matrices

one-year-old shoot  

Sampling area

BR/NP Berchtesgaden The only high mountains national park in Germany and an area of the Limestone Alps with international relevance.
Saarländischer Verdichtungsraum Important, old-industrialised conurbation in Germany.
Bornhöveder Seengebiet Main watershed between the North- and Baltic Sea.
NP Bayerischer Wald The Bavarian Forest National Park is Germany's first national park.
NP Harz The Harz National Park is Germany's largest forest national park.
Solling Second highest and largest low mountain range in Northern Germany.
BR Pfälzerwald Germany's largest connected forest area in a range of low mountains.
Oberbayerisches Tertiärhügelland The Upper Bavarian Tertiary Uplands are a part of the Southern German Molasse Basin.

Analytes

Metals Eighty percent of all elements on earth are metals
Nonmetals Only eighteen elements in the periodic table
Chlorohydrocarbons Group of organic compounds with at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Group of organic compounds with at least three condensed six-membered rings
Supplementary parameters Additional information for the interpretation of contamination data

Sampling period

1985 - 2011

Biometric parameters

Height  
Shoot length  
Circumference  
1000-needle weight  
Needles to stems relation  
Degree of needle density  

Extended information

Links to external information and legislation

Literature