The depositions of airborne pollutants (SO₂, NO_x, SO₄^2-, NO₃, NH₄⁺) on old pine stands is studied at three differently polluted locations (Neuglobsow, Taura, Rösa) by means of various effect parameters (biomarkers) of the C-, N-and S-metabolism and of the antioxidative decontamination system. The findings (hark analysis) concerning multiple contamination show that between 1991 and 1997 the input of sulphate at all three locations significantly decreased. A comparable trend was also found for ammonium and nitrate until the mid-1990s. However, the input of N has significantly risen in pine stands since 1995 and is becoming the main form of deposition contamination in the forest ecosystems in the lowlands of north-eastern Germany. The differences between the locations and the changes over time of depositions are clearly reflected in the reactions of the biomarkers. The sulphate levels in the needles correlate especially closely with the changes in the SO₂ concentration in the ambient air. By contrast, the levels of the soluble non-protein-N (NPN) fraction and the parameters of biomarkers of related metabolic areas (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, glucose, organic phosphor fraction, glucathione reductase) underwent low or no change over time.

Using multivariate statistical models (factor analysis, cluster analysis, discriminance analysis), close relations are detected between various biomarkers, and the pines' vitality states are characterised depending on the multiple pollution situation.