The five year monitoring of the air environment in Samara

Abstract

Aim. To determine the regional characteristics of the pollen spectrum of the air environment by the end of the five-year monitoring; to create the pollen calendar of allergenic plants in Samara, Russia. Materials and methods. Pollen was sampled using the volumetric method with a self-engineered pollen impactor into glass slides, covered with a mixture of petrolatum and wax. The pollen grains were counted and classified according to the systematic groups. Results. IIn 2013 the Samara urban air basin contained pollen of 21 taxa (12 woody taxa and 9 herbaceous taxa); in 2014 - 20 taxa (13 woody and 7 herbaceous); in 2015 - 20 taxa (12 woody and 8 herbaceous); in 2016 - 21 taxa (13 woody and 8 herbaceous); in 2017 - 18 taxa (10 woody and 8 herbaceous). During the five-year survey the dominant taxa were ragweed (24.3%), poplar (12,0%), birch (11.5%), pine (7.5%), maple (6.3%), elm (6.3%), nettle (5.8%), willow (4.8%), Gramineae (4.7%), and wormwood (3.7%). 10 dominant taxa were determined, which formed from 90% to 95% of the annual pollen volume. The prevailing taxa varied considerably from year to year by specific weight. Only three pollen species were present in the spectrum annually in the amount of more than 4% of the annual amount: poplar, birch and ambrosia pollen grains. Conclusion. Regional features of aeropalynological situation was revealed and pollen calendar of allergenic plants in Samara was created.