Abstract
Temperature is the environmental factor that systematically changes for decades and, as in plants and animals, can significantly affect the growth and development of fungi, including the abundance of their sporulation. During the time of study (2010–2012), a rapid increase in air temperature was observed in Poland, which coincided with the substantial decrease in rainfall. The increase in annual mean temperatures at three monitoring sites of this study was 0.9 °C in Lublin and Rzeszow (east Poland) and 2.0 °C in Poznan (west Poland). Such warming of air masses was comparable to the average global air temperature rise in the period of 1880–2012 accounting for 0.85 °C, as reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Moreover, there was a substantial decrease in rainfall, ranging from 32.7 % (Poznan) to 43.0 % (Rzeszow). We have demonstrated that under such conditions the mean and median values of total Cladosporium spore counts significantly increased and the spore seasons were greatly accelerated. Moreover, earlier start and later end of the season caused its extension, lasting from over 20 days in Rzeszow to around 60 days in Lublin and Poznan, when the cumulative amount of 5–95 % of spores was considered. The time of reaching the cumulative amount of 50 % of spores was up to 25 days earlier (difference in Poznan between 2010 and 2012). There was also a striking acceleration of the date of the maximal Cladosporium spore concentration per cubic metre of air (26 days for Lublin, 43 for Poznan and 56 for Rzeszow).
Highlights
The ascomycetous fungi of the genus Cladosporium (Davidiellaceae, Capnodiales, Dothideomycetes) occur worldwide in a wide range of habitats as plant pathogens, secondary parasites and necrotrophs (O’Donnel and Dickinson 1980; Collemare et al 2014)
During and after rainstorms, increasing air humidity resulted in low levels of spore counts in the air (Grinn-Gofron and Strzelczak 2013) even though higher temperatures and ozone levels before storms caused an increase in Cladosporium spore concentration
The study of Cladosporium spore seasons in Poland was performed in a relatively short period of time (3 years), but it coincided with a period of significant warming of air masses
Summary
The ascomycetous fungi of the genus Cladosporium (Davidiellaceae, Capnodiales, Dothideomycetes) occur worldwide in a wide range of habitats as plant pathogens, secondary parasites and necrotrophs (O’Donnel and Dickinson 1980; Collemare et al 2014). They colonize decaying plant material, mainly leaves and stems, but have been isolated from other materials such as soil, stones, concrete, bricks as well as textiles, paper and leather (Gutarowska 2014). Positive correlation of rainfall with the spore count of Cladosporium was reported by Recio et al (2012). In common with most airspora, wind speed and direction play an important role in the distribution of Cladosporium, and the source of spores is detectable using aerobiological methods (Recio et al 2012; Grinn-Gofron et al 2015; Sadyset al. 2015)
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