ecological modelling 204 ( 2 0 0 7 ) 359–371 available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolmodel Modeling of the long-term effect of tree species (Norway spruce and European beech) on soil acidification in the Ore Mountains Filip Oulehle * , Je ˇ n´ yk Hofmeister, Jakub Hruˇ ska Czech Geological Survey, Department of Environmental Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry, Kl´ arov 3, 118 21 Prague, Czech Republic article info Article history: Received 20 June 2006 Received in revised form 15 January 2007 Accepted 19 January 2007 Published on line 2 March 2007 Keywords: MAGIC model Soil and soil water acidification Forestry Naˇ cet´ ın Czech Republic abstract The MAGIC model was applied to estimate soil and soil water (-90 cm) chemistry between 1854 and 2094 at two experimental stands (Naˇ cet´ ın, Ore Mountains), one covered by a Nor- way spruce monoculture and the other by a natural European beech forest. The primary aims were to evaluate the influence of tree species on long-term acidification and to predict future development under different forest management scenarios. Depletion of base cations from the soils, caused by high acidic deposition, resulted in low base saturations of 8.2% at the spruce stand and of 6.4% at the beech stand in 2003. The con- centration of aluminum in soil water was 135 mol l -1 and pH 4.32 at the spruce stand, and 70 mol l -1 and pH 4.4 at the beech stand, respectively, in 2005. During the peak of acidifica- tion in the mid 1980s, modeled aluminum concentrations contributed 70% to neutralizing acidity at the spruce stand, and 55% at the beech stand. In addition, SO 4 concentration was significantly higher at the spruce stand (525 equiv. l -1 ) compared to the beech stand (330 equiv. l -1 ) as a result of higher dry deposition onto the spruce canopy. The enhanced leaching of base cations was comparable at both stands (191 equiv. l -1 at the spruce stand and 215 equiv. l -1 at the beech stand). The higher deposition of base cations onto the spruce canopy was able to partially mitigate the effect of high leaching. The model results suggest that future recovery of soil water will be significantly better at the beech stand (higher pH, ANC, Bc/Al ratio and lower SO 4 2- and Al concentrations). Interestingly, modeled soil base saturation for 2094 will be lower at the beech stand. Alter- native scenarios such as clear-cutting and new re-forestation resulted in more favorable soil chemistry for the beech plantations compared to the spruce. The best regeneration of the soil environment is predicted for the scenario with an absence of forest. This suggests, that future soil recovery from acidification will be delayed by the removal of base cations through harvesting. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The upper parts of the Ore Mountains, Czech Republic, were almost completely converted from European beech dominated ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +42 251085431; fax: +42 251818748. E-mail address: oulehle@cgu.cz (F. Oulehle). forests to managed Norway spruce (Picea abies /L./ Karst.) monocultures during the 19th century, as a result of wood shortage at this time. After World War II, coal mining in a nearby basin was rapidly stepped up. The S-rich coal, in 0304-3800/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.01.012