Unusually high birch (Betula spp.) pollen concentrations in Poland in 2016 related to long-range transport (LRT) and the regional pollen occurrence

Dorota Myszkowska,Małgorzata Malkiewicz,Katarzyna Dąbrowska-Zapart,Branko Šikoparija,Jana Ščevková,Małgorzata Nowak,Maximilian Bastl,Małgorzata Puc,Ingrida Šaulienė,Artur Górecki,Åslög Dahl,Janka Lafférsová,Annika Saarto,Barbara Majkowska-Wojciechowska,Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko,Ondřej Rybníček ,Katarzyna Piotrowicz,Uwe Berger,Monika Ziemianin,Andreja Kofol Seliger,Ewa Czarnobilska

doi:10.1007/s10453-021-09703-w

Abstract

In 2016, the highest birch (Betula spp.) pollen concentrations were recorded in Kraków (Poland) since the beginning of pollen observations in 1991. The aim of this study was to ascertain the reason for this phenomenon, taking the local sources of pollen in Poland and long-range transport (LRT) episodes associated with the pollen influx from other European countries into account. Three periods of higher pollen concentrations in Kraków in 2016 were investigated with the use of pollen data, phenological data, meteorological data and the HYSPLIT numerical model to calculate trajectories up to 4 days back (96 h) at the selected Polish sites. From 5 to 8 April, the birch pollen concentrations increased in Kraków up to 4000 Pollen/m3, although no full flowering of birch trees in the city was observed. The synoptic situation with air masses advection from the South as well as backward trajectories and the general birch pollen occurrence in Europe confirm that pollen was transported mainly from Serbia, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, into Poland. The second analyzed period (13–14 April) was related largely to the local flowering of birches, while the third one in May (6–7 May) mostly resulted from the birch pollen transport from Fennoscandia and the Baltic countries. Unusual high pollen concentrations at the beginning of the pollen season can augment the symptomatic burden of birch pollen allergy sufferers and should be considered during therapy. Such incidents also affect the estimation of pollen seasons timing and severity.Graphical

Highlights

The phenomenon of the long-range transport (LRT) of pollen has been known since the 1930s (Erdtman 1937)
Some authors indicate a transport of pollen grains with air masses over even longer distances: up to 600 km, e.g., birch (Betula spp.) pollen (Hjelmroos, 1992), nearly 1 500 km in the case of ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei) pollen (Mohanty et al 2017) or even greater distances (Rousseau et al 2008; Sofiev, Belmonte et al 2006; Sofiev, Siljamo et al 2006)
Phenological observations alone are not enough to determine the timing of the birch pollen season, because the LRT of pollen may greatly affect the timing of the local birch pollen season

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon of the long-range transport (LRT) of pollen has been known since the 1930s (Erdtman 1937). Such LRT events depend on the pollen morphological features (size, density and shape), the prevailing meteorological conditions and the synoptic situation (Fernandez-Rodrıguez et al 2015; HelfmanHertzog et al 2018; Kasprzyk 2003, 2011; Puc 2014; Puc & Wolski 2002; Robledo-Arnuncio 2011; Szczepanek 2003; Szczepanek et al 2017). According to the classification proposed by Seinfeld and Pandis (2006), the distances related to LRT consist of synoptic, continental and global scales, including transport events of up to 1000–2000 km; up to 5 000 km and over 5 000 km, respectively

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