Abstract
SUMMARY: The air in three Jamaican banana plantations was sampled from 20 July 1960 to 15 April 1961 with a Hirst spore trap. Spores of Nigrospora were regular components of the air-spora. They exhibited a regular and sharply defined diurnal periodicity, rapid liberation of spores starting at about 07.00 hr. and reaching a peak between 08.00 and 10.00 hr.; very few spores were trapped during the night. This is consistent with the fact that spore discharge occurs only under conditions of decreasing vapour pressure. Rainfall and under-tree irrigation usually resulted in an appreciable increase in atmospheric content of Nigrospora spores. These high concentrations were maintained for 2-4 days before decreasing to characteristically low dry weather values. The highest daily mean concentration recorded was 1350 spores/m.3, an estimate of c. 14,000/m.3 being obtained at 08.00 hr. on the same day.
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