In response to widespread concern that air pollution could affect forest condition, the International Co-operative Programme on the Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP forests) was established under the UN/ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) in 1985. ICP Forests was mandated to monitor air pollution effects on forests and to contribute to a better understanding of cause-effect relationships.
Within the complex of anthropogenic and natural stresses, air pollution continues to be regards as an important stress factor. Air pollution and its effects on forest ecosystems are complex and difficult to isolate and quantify. A large number of other stress factors also have an influence on forest condition and must therefore be taken into consideration. The objective of the Level II network was therefore: to contribute to a better understanding of the relationships between the condition of the forest ecosystems and anthropogenic factors (in particular air pollution) as well as natural stress factors through intensive monitoring on a number of selected permanent observation plots spread over Europe and to study the development of important forest ecosystems in Europe.
Data collection in the Level II/(Later FutMon) was modular in nature, in that it each assessment type was independent of the others. Included here are the daily meteorological data. Attribution statement: Please quote Forest Research as the source of the data in any subsequent papers/products.