Frequency and distribution of insect pollinated pollen in air samples of Hirst-type volumetric pollen and spore traps in Austria from 2008 to 2017

Abstract

Standard Hirst-type automated pollen and spore traps are used in aerobiology to assess ambient pollen concentrations with a focus on allergenic taxa, which are wind-pollinated. The relationship of insect to wind pollinated pollen concentrations has not been examined. We analysed the pollen data from the pollen seasons (1 April–31 August) 2008–2017 of seven pollen traps distributed across Austria located at different elevations. The included pollen monitoring stations cover the diversity of the countries’ landscape: from large cities to alpine areas. The data was grouped into taxa known as insect (39 taxa) and taxa known as wind pollinated (43 taxa). We found a low occurrence of insect pollinated pollen in comparison to wind pollinated pollen in all stations. The mean pollen concentration of insect pollinated pollen was low and ranged from 0 to 22 pollen/m3 air. Correlation coefficients showed the dependence of the results on the parameters year, station and year × station, thus explaining the variability of the data. However, differences in abundances of insect and wind pollinated pollen concern also the time of the year with later peaks (May–June) of insect pollinated pollen in comparison to wind pollinated pollen (April). Insect pollinated pollen shows a different timing and quantitative aspect in comparison to wind pollinated pollen in air samples of Hirst-type pollen traps and thus a presumed dependence on local factors. These results should be taken into account when interpreting ancient pollen spectra to reconstruct palaeoenvironments and when monitoring recent climate change using aerobiological archives.