The national soil monitoring network (Nabo) consists of 105 sites across Switzerland, 28 of which are located in forests. After 25 years already seven forest sites (25%) were more or less damaged by storms. Two of them had to be abandoned for a decade to recover. Concerning precautionary soil protection the legal guide value is exceeded at three forest sites for cadmium and at one site also for chromium. These sites are all based on Jurassic limestone, and it is well known that residuals of limestone weathering can be rich in cadmium. Hence, the enrichment is supposed to be of geogenic origin. In the Canton Ticino the top soil at Novaggio site exceeds the guide value for lead. Here, anthropogenic origin is very likely. The analysis of the organic pollutants PAH and PCB in the third sampling campaign revealed moderate concentrations with a maximum lower than or equal to ⅔ of the corresponding guide value. Based on the results of the first four sampling campaigns it can be concluded that only small changes in the measured heavy metal concentrations in the top soils at the 28 Nabo sites were found. The most dynamic element is lead. Most of the concentrations are far below the guide values, the same holds for the organic pollutants PAH and PCB.
Ecohydrologic processes and soil thickness feedbacks control limestone-weathering rates in a karst landscape