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Technological progress in modern scientific development generates opportunities that create new ways to learn more about objects and systems of nature. An important indicator in choosing research methods is not only accuracy but also the time and human resources required to achieve results. This research demonstrates the possibilities of using an automatic particle detector that works based on scattered light pattern and laserinduced fluorescence for plant biodiversity investigation. Airborne pollen data were collected by two different devices, and results were analysed in light of the application for plant biodiversity observation. This paper explained the possibility to gain knowledge with a new type of method that would enable biodiversity monitoring programs to be extended to include information on the diversity of airborne particles of biological origin. It was revealed that plant conservation could be complemented by new tools to test the effectiveness of management plans and optimise mitigation measures to reduce impacts on biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollinosis (allergy to pollen) causes social and health problems around the world. Monitoring the actual amount of airborne pollen is essential to dealing with this problem. However, as measurements are usually done with the human eye using a microscope, enormous amounts of time and skilled labor are needed. We developed an automatic pollen monitor that uses laser optics to measure pollen more easily. With this method, unique ranges of light scattering intensities for each taxon of pollen, or “extract windows,” are searched and parameters for extracting subject pollen from observed data are clarified. These extract windows are determined using a scatter plot for the forward and side scattering intensities, based on the correlation coefficient between data from the automatic monitor and a Hirst-type sampler. In this paper, we present an analysis of data obtained by Le Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique in Lyon, France in 2013 and by MétéoSuisse in Payerne, Switzerland in 2014 and 2015. Scattering intensities derived from the locations of extract windows for five pollen taxa were compared with physical properties of the pollen grains, clarifying that a positive relationship exists between the size of pollen and the intensity of forward scattering. We also investigated the ratio between side and forward scattering intensity and pollen surface characteristics using frequency analysis, finding a strong relationship between this ratio and the frequency spectrum of pollen surface structures. Larger roughness sizes on the pollen surface showed a clear relationship with the ratio between side and forward scattering intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses daily and seasonal variations on pollen concentrations and the influence of meteorological conditions on the airborne pollen from June 2011 to May 2014. Data is also compared with results from a previous pollen survey from 2000-2001. Ninety-three taxa were identified, belonging to 49 trees and shrub taxa and 44 herbaceous taxa. The most important pollen sources were Poaceae, Platanus, Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, Eupatorieae type, Celtis, Urticaceae, Myrtaceae, Casuarina, Amaranthaceae, Cyperaceae, Fraxinus, Arecaceae, Ricinus communis, Moraceae, Myrsine, Ambrosia, Quercus, and Pinaceae. Pollen was recorded all year round but the main pollen season was from August to April. Inter-annual differences were observed on pollen indexes, dates and values of daily peak concentrations and monthly accumulated concentrations. Temperature, relative air humidity and wind speed and direction seem to be the most influential meteorological variables on pollen concentrations. The number of days that pollen concentrations are above moderate and high thresholds levels is estimated and woody and non-woody pollen concentrations would be above moderate levels on average 182 days per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control of plant pollen season patterns is especially important in the expectation of climate change, as the timing of potential varying pollen seasons affects the human population. An ever-increasing number of people suffer from hay fever symptoms with varying severity during the pollen season. This paper presents data on the seasonal variations of pollen concentration and the factors which are the likely causes of these variations in Vinnytsya, a city in Central Ukraine, in order to establish the apparent pattern of this variation and so improve the efficiency of hay fever control in Ukraine. Pollen counts were obtained by gravimetric and volumetric methods employing a Hirst-type volumetric spore trap. Alder (Alnus) and birch (Betula) peaks of pollen release occurred approximately 1 month earlier than was observed at the end of the twentieth century. This was due to the seasonal heat accumulation related to the appropriate temperature regimen registered in January and February prior to the growing season. Other trees - including poplar (Populus), maple (Acer), walnut (Juglans), common hazel (Corylus) - did not show distinct changes in pollen season pattern over the past decades. Mean daily temperature seems to be the leading factor promoting early season onset and a seasonal pollen peak shift of the grass and herb flora such as ragweed (Ambrosia). The shift of the ragweed seasonal pollen maximum towards later in the season correlated with higher temperatures during September. Our study has shown that droughts may also significantly decrease the ragweed pollen concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of pollen trapping studies designed to quantify the pollen assemblages carried in the winds of the Loess Plateau in Luochuan and Hunyuan. The one-year-collection samples analysis results show that pollen assemblages can be more sensitive to the change of climate than the vegetation composition, because of the change of pollen production. The analysis results of pollen traps in different weather regimes indicate that the pollen influx coming from dust weather contribute more to the total pollen influx than that coming from non-dust weather. The wind speed is the most important influenced factor to pollen assemblages, then the mean temperature and the mean relative humidity, the wind direction also contributes some. Strong wind coming from dust direction can make the percent and influx of Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae increase obviously with averagely higher than over 2.7 times in dust weather than in non-dust samples. The influences of wind speed and wind direction are not serious to some arboreal pollen such as Rosaceae, Quercus , Betula , Pinus and Ostryopsis , which are mainly influenced by temperature or the relative humidity such as Salix , Hippophae , Carpinus , Brassicaceae, Cupressaceae, Fabaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pistacia species grow in temperate regions, and are widespread in the Mediterranean area. Two species can be found in the Iberian Peninsula: Pistacia lentiscus L. and Pistacia terebinthus L. Airborne pollen from these species, recorded in some Spanish provinces, is regarded by some authors as potentially allergenic, and therefore should be of particular interest, given that these species are actually being introduced as ornamentals in parks and gardens. This paper deals with a study of daily and seasonal Pistacia airborne pollen counts in Córdoba city, analysed in parallel with field flowering phenology data. The study was carried out in Córdoba, using a volumetric Hirst-type sampler in accordance with Spanish Aerobiology Network guidelines. Phenological monitoring was performed weekly from January to May at 7 sites in the mountain areas north of Córdoba city. The Pistacia pollen season lasted an average of 41 days, from mid-March to end of April. Higher pollen counts were recorded in evening hours. The pollen index increased over the study period, and the pollen season coincided with phenological observations. Some airborne pollen grains were recorded once flowering had finished, due to re-suspension or transport from other locations. Pistacia pollen counts in Córdoba were low, but sufficient to identify seasonal and daily patterns. This pollen type should be taken into account in pollen calendars, in order to fully inform potential allergy-sufferers. The number of trees introduced as ornamentals should be carefully controlled, since widespread planting could increase airborne pollen levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen allergy is considered a major public health problem that causes morbidity and subsequently affects a patient's quality of life. Pollen due to their large size cannot enter the thoracic regions of the respiratory tract but can affect the nasopharyngeal mucous membrane. At the same time, the submicronic-pollen particles can act as respirable particles reaching deeper into the upper airways leading to exacerbation of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other allergic reactions. Based on the existing literature, expanding evidence shows that climate change and air pollutants could affect the pollen number, morphology, season, allergen content, and distribution pattern. Hence, this will influence the prevalence and occurrence of allergies linked to pollen exposure. Being a part of biogenic pollutants, pollen allergens are not expected to diminish in the foreseeable future. Therefore, it is imperative that steps need to be strengthened to improve and optimize preventive/adaptive strategies. This paper aims to review the major causes of widespread allergy, identify the major gaps, and suggest key preventive/adaptive measures to address the onset and exacerbation of pollen-related allergic diseases with a major focus on lower and middle-income countries. The study also discusses how-to implement the prevention and control measures at the individual, health care communities and organizations, Local Governments, National/International Governments levels to decrease the risk of illnesses associated with pollen allergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The information provided by pollen counts cannot be ignored by allergists and allergic individuals, but the divergence sometimes observed with clinical observations has led the réseau national de la surveillance aérobiologique (RNSA) to initiate the monitoring network of allergens by immunosampling (Monalisa) project. Moreover, some recent papers has shown the influence of pollution in the region and even of the year on the content in pollen allergens, particularly that of birch pollen. Thus, the goal of the Monalisa project was to set up a measuring system based on an immunological method that would result in validation of this new way of measuring airborne pollen counts. This European Life Environment project includes nine partners: Bertin Technologies (France), RNSA (France), NPARU (England), UCO (Spain), UTU (Finland), UAM (Poland), UEVORA (Portugal), AIA (Italy), and Meteoswiss (Switzerland). The results obtained during the 2006 season and then in the 2007 campaign, after modifications made in the sampler, were not very good. The principal results concern the measurement of birch and olive allergens, captured essentially in the prepollination period and sometimes in the postpollination period. Detection of these allergens may be due either to their presence on submicroscopic particles emitted independently of pollination, these allergens cross-reacting with birch and olive allergens. The difficulties encountered in this study lead us to say that pollen counts, phenological observations and clinical data are still the best way to assess the effects of airborne pollen. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new approach of integration of remote sensing data with in situ pollen measurements is developed to explore the effect of changing land use on the local pollen records variability. It was conducted in a predominantly agricultural region of Serbia, with the focus on Ambrosia , an invasive weed that is the source of highly allergenic pollen. The land use characteristics were extracted from the Corine Land Cover and more precise crop classification maps for years 2013–2017 created using machine learning from the available satellite (RapidEye, Landsat, Sentinel) and ground truth data. Airborne pollen was collected at five locations for the same period. To integrate in situ and products derived from satellite data we defined catchment areas surrounding pollen measurements stations. Different shapes of assumed catchment areas equivalent to 5 km, 10 km and 30 km radius were tested: circular, wind rose and footprint from SILAM (System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric coMposition). The simple fixed circle, used as the rule of thumb in the literature, is a reasonable approximation of the representativeness of the aerobiological data. A gridded Ambrosia distribution and abundance map over Vojvodina was produced by using top-down approach that combines distribution of suitable habitats and airborne pollen concentrations. The results confirmed that variation in the agriculture-associated land use area explains notable amount of variability in the amount of Ambrosia airborne pollen. Detailed crop classification inferred from satellite data revealed the strongest relationship between pollen and variation in areas under soya bean and sugar beet. Maps of Ambrosia infection levels, based on distribution of sugar beet and soya bean fields, instead of total arable land, reveal its additional spatial variability in Vojvodina region. Image 1 • Paper proposes a novel methodology for producing Ambrosia infection level maps. • Crop classification maps are generated by utilizing satellite observations. • Land use around aerobiological station influences recorded pollen concentrations. • Airborne Ambrosia pollen and areas under soya bean and sugar beet correlate highly. • New inventorying approach reveals central part of the study area as focal infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]