Annual pollen sums of alnus in Lublin and Roztocze in the years 2001-2007 against selected meteorological parameters

Bogusław M Kaszewski,Irena A Pidek,Krystyna Piotrowska,Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska

doi:10.5586/aa.2008.033

Bogusław M Kaszewski, Irena A Pidek + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.5586/aa.2008.033

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Abstract

Alder (Alnus Mill.), as an anemophilous species, produces large quantities of easily dispersed pollen. Annual pollen sums recorded in south-eastern Poland (by the volumetric method - Lanzoni trap) and in the area of the village of Guciów in the Central Roztocze region (pollen deposition in Tauber traps) were compared. The height at which the respective trap sites were located as well as local and regional vegetation and the distance from the nearest alder communities differ in both cases, likewise, the climate of these two regions differ. The analysed pollen data series cover the years 1998-2007 in Roztocze and 2001-2007 in Lublin. Large differences have been noted in Alnus pollen deposition values between particular years. Among them, there were observed years of very high annual sums (2001, 2003, 2006), as well as years of very low pollen deposition values in both regions (2002, 2005, 2007). In the period in question, the mean value of annual Alnus pollen count for Lublin was 5372 alder pollen grains in m3 of air, and in Roztocze 1647 grains per cm2 of area. During the seven-year period of monitoring (2001-2007), very similar trends were noted with respect to airborne alder pollen concentrations at both trap sites. Pollen data have been analysed against meteorological factors affecting alder pollen production and deposition. These are total precipitation and mean monthly air temperature in June, July and August in the year preceding pollen emission and the same weather elements in January and February in the year of pollen emission. In Roztocze a statistically significant negative correlation has been found between Alnus pollen annual sums and total precipitation in August in the year preceding alder pollen emission and in February in the year of pollen emission. In both regions, the Spearman's correlation coefficient does not show any statistically significant values when comparing annual Alnus pollen sums with mean monthly temperatures of both January and February and summer months in the year preceding alder pollen emission.

Highlights

Alders (Alnus Mill.), belonging to the family Betulaceae, produce large quantities of pollen causing allergic reactions
Alder together with hazel are an important source of fresh pollen for bees in early spring, since there is a shortage of other flowering plants. As it has been calculated, the number of pollen grains produced by one inflorescence of alder is ca. 19.5 million, which is 2.2 times higher than those produced by the hazel inflorescence (Piotrowska, 2008)
Pollen monitoring In Lublin measurements of pollen concentration in the air were made by the volumetric method using a Lanzoni VPPS 2000 pollen trap which was sited at a height of 18 metres

Summary

Introduction

Alders (Alnus Mill.), belonging to the family Betulaceae, produce large quantities of pollen causing allergic reactions. Alder together with hazel are an important source of fresh pollen for bees in early spring, since there is a shortage of other flowering plants. As it has been calculated, the number of pollen grains produced by one inflorescence of alder is ca. Alnus pollen appears in the air very early, often already in the first decade of February (Kasprzyk et al 2004; Szczepanek , 2006; Smith et al 2007; We ryszko - Chmielewska and Piotrowska , 2004; 2006). Due to cross reactions to alder and birch pollen, researchers undertake analyses of alder pollen concentrations, and of pollen season patterns and related meteorological factors (Gioulekas et al 2004; Kasprzyk et al 2004; Rodrigues - R a j o et al 2006; Smith et al 2007)

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