Airborne pollen flora of a deciduous mesic forest in Turkey

Hatice Kutluk,Burhan Aytuğ

doi:10.3329/bjpt.v17i1.5388

Hatice Kutluk, Burhan Aytuğ

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3329/bjpt.v17i1.5388

Copy DOI

Abstract

Airborne pollen composition of a deciduous mesic forest in northwestern Turkey is compared with the flora of the forest and a wider area. The airborne assemblage is constituted by 641.553 pollen belonging to 32 orders, 54 families and 96 genera. Of these, 380.000 (59.2%) belong to native and 257.180 (40.1%) to non-native plants. Among the native taxa arboreal pollen (AP) is represented by 55.7% and non-arboreal (NAP) by 44.3%. All of the arboreal elements of the forest are Quercus, Castanea, Carpinus, Ulmus, Alnus, Populus, Salix, Fagus, Tilia, Acer, Corylus, Prunus, Rubus, Ligustrum, Phillyrea which represented in the airborne assemblage. Incorporation of NAP to airborne composition is less than AP and they more likely provide an indication of the composition of local plant communities and hence represent vegetation of immediate vicinity. The most common NAP taxa are Poaceae, Plantaginaceae, Asteraceae, Urticaceae, Apiaceae, Cannabaceae, Polygonaceae and Cyperaceae. Pollen of climbers are less represented than AP but more than NAP taxa. Platanus orientalis (30.7%) and Pinus and Cupressus (20.2%) constitute half of the non-native flora; the rest is the pollen of exotic, alien and horticultural taxa from numerous parks and gardens in İstanbul.

Highlights

Large quantities of pollen are released from anemophilous plants during dissemination period; they are carried by air currents and eventully settle on the ground
Airborne pollen composition: Airborne pollen assemblage of the study area is composed of trees, shrubs, and grasses of both native and introduced or cultivated taxa belonging to 32 orders, 54 families and 96 genera
The arboreal pollen (AP), Non-Arboreal Pollen Flora (NAP) and non-native taxa are grouped with respect to their abundances for convenience in comparisons with the surrounding vegetation

Summary

Introduction

Large quantities of pollen are released from anemophilous plants during dissemination period; they are carried by air currents and eventully settle on the ground. Some plant taxa produce pollen in much greater quantities than the others, which is a factor determined by the genetic potential of each species (Molina et al, 1996). Some plant taxa produce large and heavy grains whose falling rate is much faster and they more reflect the vegetation of a closer area, while some others produce small and light pollen which are drifted by wind and falls onto earth far from the maternal plant reflecting vegetation of far distant places. The amount of sporopollenin content and the morphological features such as the thickness and even the sculpture types of exine determine the falling rate of pollen.

Methods

Results

Conclusion