The drivers of global change, including increases in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, N and S deposition, and climate change, likely affect the nutritional status of forests. Here we show forest foliar concentrations of N, P, K, S and Mg decreased significantly in Europe by 5%, 11%, 8%, 6% and 7%, respectively during the last three decades. The decrease in nutritional status was especially large in Mediterranean and temperate forests. Increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentration was well correlated with the decreases in N, P, K, Mg, S concentrations and the increase of N:P ratio. Regional analyses indicated that increases in some foliar nutrient concentrations such as N, S and Ca in northern Europe occurred associated with increasingly favourable conditions of mean annual precipitation and temperature. Crucial changes in forest health, structure, functioning and services, including negative feedbacks on C capture can be expected if these trends are not reversed.

全球变化的驱动力，包括大气中CO ₂浓度的增加，氮和硫的沉积以及气候变化，可能会影响森林的营养状况。在这里，我们显示出在过去的三十年中，欧洲的森林叶片中N，P，K，S和Mg的浓度分别下降了5％，11％，8％，6％和7％。营养状况的下降在地中海和温带森林中尤为明显。大气CO ₂增加氮，磷，钾，镁，硫的浓度降低与氮磷比的增加密切相关。区域分析表明，北欧一些叶面养分浓度（例如N，S和Ca）的增加与年均降水量和温度的有利条件日益密切相关。如果这些趋势没有逆转，则可以预期森林健康，结构，功能和服务的重大变化，包括对碳捕获的负面反馈。