Aeropalynological Study of Yangmingshan National Park, Taiwan

Abstract

An aeropalynological study was conducted within Yangmingshan National Park, Taiwan. At the study site (Hsiao-Kuan-Yin), a Burkard seven-day volumetric pollen trap was used to collect samples from April 1997 to March 1998. Over this period, a total of 64 taxa belonging to 46 families and 54 genera were identified in the pollen assemblage. The decreasing abundance of pollen and spores was in the following sequence: Gramineae (23.1%), Urticaceae (17.2%), Trema (15.3%), Ardisia (7.0%), Broussonetia (5.6%), Cyathea (4.5%), Piper (3.4%), Mallotus (2.9%), other Euphorbiaceae (2.5%), Humulus (1.4%) and Pinus (1.2%). Two major pollen seasons, from March to May and in October, were dominated by arboreal pollen and Gramineae pollen, respectively, while only a small amount of pollen and fern spores were collected from November to February. The major species of pollen also varied by season: Trema dominated in April and May, Ardisia in June, Cyathea in July and August, Mallotus paniculatus in September, Gramineae in October, and Urticaceae and Broussonetia in March. A pollen calendar was constructed to illustrate this seasonal variation in the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of airborne pollen and spores.