Analysis of the airborne fungal spores present in the atmosphere of Salamanca (MW Spain): a preliminary survey

Abstract

In this paper, we expose a preliminary study of the airborne fungal spore content in the atmosphere of Salamanca City including a fungal spore calendar. Sampling was carried out between February 2014 and February 2016, and along these 2 years of monitoring Cladosporium was the most abundant type followed by Aspergillus/Penicillium, both present from January to December. The peaks of diversity and abundance were established in two well-defined seasons focused on autumn (especially basidiomycota) and late spring. Others, like Cladosporium and Alternaria, called the dry spore types, had their maximum during summer. According to the intradiurnal pattern, the results were very similar for the spore types, except for Agaricus, Coprinus and Periconia that showed a nocturnal release pattern. The meteorological factors that had a clearly influence on the spore distribution were temperature, in the case of the dry spore types, and relative humidity in the case of wet air spores like Agaricus and Coprinus both basidiomycetes.