Broad-Leaved Tree Growth Modulated by Industrial Air Pollution in the Northern Romania (Baia Mare Region)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article is written in good scientific language. The topic of research is relevant. Minor comments on the text are noted:
1. The text and a reference to a literary source "Recent studies in the Baia Mare area have detected the presence of heavy metals, especially in soil and plants, including vegetables such as onion (Allium cepa L.) and dill (Anethum graveolens L.), and spontaneous flora such as bentgrass (Agrostis sp.), clover (Trifolium repens L.), and nettle (Urtica dioica L.). These studies have shown high levels of soil and plant pollution with Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Sn [10]". This text is not relevant to this topic of study.
2. Specific geographic coordinates should be given for each forest survey area. Geographic coordinates can be given in Table 2. The geographic coordinates of the entire study area can also be given in Figure 1.
3. The first paragraph of the text from the discussion (lines 231-244) should be moved to the introduction.

Author Response

To reviewers,

First of all, thank you for your analysis and comments to improve the quality of our article.

I made some changes to the authors section and added 2 affiliations because I omitted them at the beginning.

The following are the changes made to the text according to your comments:

Review 1

1. The text and a reference to a literary source "Recent studies in the Baia Mare area have detected the presence of heavy metals, especially in soil and plants, including vegetables such as onion (Allium cepa L.) and dill (Anethum graveolens L.), and spontaneous flora such as bentgrass (Agrostis sp.), clover (Trifolium repens L.), and nettle (Urtica dioica L.). These studies have shown high levels of soil and plant pollution with Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Sn [10]". This text is not relevant to this topic of study.

Reply: We deleted this paragraph.

2. Specific geographic coordinates should be given for each forest survey area. Geographic coordinates can be given in Table 2. The geographic coordinates of the entire study area can also be given in Figure 1.

Reply: We have specified the coordinates of the centre of the study area in the text, and the experimental areas are located at a maximum distance of 10 km from the centre, and the distances are shown in Table 1

3. The first paragraph of the text from the discussion (lines 231-244) should be moved to the introduction

            Reply: The first paragraph in the discussion part has been moved to the introduction part. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Specific comments are given bellow: 

1. Line 44 - instead of "legal limit" use "threshold values"
2. Line 60 - which year? 2003 or 2004?
3. Lines 86-88 - sentence is unclear, is it singular or plural?
4. Table 1 - explain abbreviations in column "Exposure"
5. Lines 182-184 - the sentence is unclear, try to formulate it in a different way.
6. Lines 191-193 - put "were introduced" at the end of sentence.
7. Part Discussion, first paragraph - facts given here would be, for readers, more useful in the part Introduction.
8. Part References - there is an impression that references are not well formatted (for example, journal's name in the references 27 and 32 are not written in the same way)
9. Part References - references 9, 12 and 27 are the same.
10. Part References - references 25 and 29 are the same.
11. Part References - who is the publisher of the reference 8?

Author Response

To reviewers,

First of all, thank you for your analysis and comments to improve the quality of our article.

I made some changes to the authors section and added 2 affiliations because I omitted them at the beginning.

The following are the changes made to the text according to your comments:

1. Line 44 - instead of "legal limit" use "threshold values"

Reply: I have modified it according to your recommendation

2. Line 60 - which year? 2003 or 2004?

Reply: 2003

3. Lines 86-88 - sentence is unclear, is it singular or plural?

Reply: I rephrased this sentence

4. Table 1 - explain abbreviations in column "Exposure"

Reply: I have explained the abbreviations in the exposure column.

5. Lines 182-184 - the sentence is unclear, try to formulate it in a different way.

Reply: I rephrased this sentence

6. Lines 182-184 - the sentence is unclear, try to formulate it in a different way.

Reply: I made the change.

7. Part Discussion, first paragraph - facts given here would be, for readers, more useful in the part Introduction.

Reply: The first paragraph in the discussion part has been moved to the introduction part.

8. Part References - there is an impression that references are not well formatted (for example, journal's name in the references 27 and 32 are not written in the same way).

Reply: I made the necessary corrections.

9. Part References - references 9, 12 and 27 are the same.

Reply: References have been updated

10. Part References - references 25 and 29 are the same.

Reply: References have been updated.

11. Part References - who is the publisher of the reference 8?

Reply: I have completed reference 8.