scholarly journals Patterns in recent and Holocene pollen influxes across Europe; the Pollen Monitoring Programme Database as a tool for vegetation reconstruction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Abraham ◽  
Sheila Hicks ◽  
Helena Svobodová-Svitavská ◽  
Elissaveta Bozilova ◽  
Sampson Panajiotidis ◽  
...  

Abstract. The collection of modern spatially extensive pollen data are important for the interpretation of fossil pollen diagrams. Such datasets are readily available for percentage data but lacking for pollen accumulation rates (PAR). Filling this gap has been the motivation of the pollen monitoring network, whose contributors monitored pollen deposition in modified Tauber-traps for several years or decades across European latitudes. Here we present this monitoring dataset consisting of 351 trap locations with a total of 2742 annual samples covering the period from 1981 to 2017. This dataset shows that climate parameters correlating with latitude determine pollen productivity. A signal of regional forest cover can be detected in the data, while local tree cover seems more important. Pollen traps situated beyond 200 km of the distribution of the parent tree are still collecting occasional pollen grains of the tree in question. PAR’s of up to 30 grains cm−2yr−1 in fossil diagram should therefore be interpreted as long distance transport. Comparisons to fossil data from the same areas show comparable values. Comparisons often demonstrate that similar high values for temperate taxa in fossils sites are found further south or downhill. While modern situations comparable to high PAR values of some taxa (e.g. Corylus) may be hard to find, CO2 fertilization and land use may case high modern PAR’s that are not documented in the fossil record. The modern data is now publically available in the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and hopefully serves improving interpretations of fossil PAR data.

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 4511-4534
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Abraham ◽  
Sheila Hicks ◽  
Helena Svobodová-Svitavská ◽  
Elissaveta Bozilova ◽  
Sampson Panajiotidis ◽  
...  

Abstract. The collection of modern, spatially extensive pollen data is important for the interpretation of fossil pollen assemblages and the reconstruction of past vegetation communities in space and time. Modern datasets are readily available for percentage data but lacking for pollen accumulation rates (PARs). Filling this gap has been the motivation of the pollen monitoring network, whose contributors monitored pollen deposition in modified Tauber traps for several years or decades across Europe. Here we present this monitoring dataset consisting of 351 trap locations with a total of 2742 annual samples covering the period from 1981 to 2017. This dataset shows that total PAR is influenced by forest cover and climate parameters, which determine pollen productivity and correlate with latitude. Treeless vegetation produced PAR values of at least 140 grains cm−2 yr−1. Tree PAR increased by at least 400 grains cm−2 yr−1 with each 10 % increase in forest cover. Pollen traps situated beyond 200 km of the distribution of a given tree species still collect occasional pollen grains of that species. The threshold of this long-distance transport differs for individual species and is generally below 60 grains cm−2 yr−1. Comparisons between modern and fossil PAR from the same regions show similar values. For temperate taxa, modern analogues for fossil PARs are generally found downslope or southward of the fossil sites. While we do not find modern situations comparable to fossil PAR values of some taxa (e.g. Corylus), CO2 fertilization and land use may cause high modern PARs that are not documented in the fossil record. The modern data are now publicly available in the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and aid interpretations of fossil PAR data.


2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena A. Pidek

Pollen deposition of alder has been measured at ground level by means of nine modifi ed Tauber traps in different plant communities according to rules of the Pollen Monitoring Programme (http://pmp.oulu.fi ). The series of data covers the period 1998-2006. The area under investigation is situated in the Roztocze (surroundings of the Guciów village) within the protective zone of the Roztocze National Park. During nine years of monitoring, significant variations were observed between single years of deposition. The occurrence of peak years (1998, 2001, 2003 and 2006) connected with higher production of <i>Alnus</i> pollen was observed at many pollen monitoring sites, but its relationship with different proportions of alder within the surrounding vegetation seems rather weak. The average value of annual pollen deposition of <i>Alnus</i> for the whole region was calculated at ca. 1370 grains &#8226; cm<sup>-2</sup>. At the sites situated within the open landscape, pollen influx values ranged from 442 (in 2005) to 6894 (in 1998). It seems that other factors than the proportion of alder within the vegetation control the deposition of <i>Alnus</i> pollen. Long-distance transport and meteorological factors such as wind speed and direction should be taken into account in future studies.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1764
Author(s):  
Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko ◽  
Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska ◽  
Galyna Melnychenko ◽  
Agata Konarska ◽  
Myroslava Mylenka ◽  
...  

Ambrosia pollen contains strong allergens. Allergic reactions can also be caused by direct contact with the plant. The investigations of the dynamics of Ambrosia pollen seasons were conducted in Lublin (Poland) and Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine) in 2013–2015. The onset and end of the seasons, maximum concentrations, annual sums, and the number of days with an allergy risk were determined. Additionally, the types of trichomes present on different parts of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. shoots were determined using light microscopy. Morphometric studies were carried out on trichomes sampled from staminate inflorescences. The maximum concentrations and annual sums of Ambrosia pollen were shown to be substantially higher in Ivano-Frankivsk than in Lublin. Similarly, the risk of allergies is higher in the study site in Ukraine. The study results indicate that the presence of Ambrosia pollen grains in Lublin may be associated with long-distance transport. The presence of non-glandular and glandular trichomes was found on the examined organs. The staminate inflorescences were covered by two types of non-glandular trichomes (short and long) and two types of glandular trichomes (linear and biseriate), whose secretory product can cause dermatitis in sensitive subjects upon contact with the plant.


1965 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Terasmae ◽  
R. J. Mott

Modern pollen content has been examined in 10 surface samples from the Nichicun Lake area, southwest of Schefferville, Quebec, and from three other localities in the same region. The pollen assemblages obtained reflect with fair reliability the regional characteristics of the northern boreal forest. Long-distance wind transport over several hundred miles is indicated by the presence of occasional ragweed and hardwood pollen grains from south of the boreal forest region. A morphological study of the black spruce pollen found indicates a rather wide range of variability, greater than that found in the pollen of black spruce south of this region.


2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-341
Author(s):  
Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko ◽  
Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska

The study compared the occurrence of airborne pollen of 7 arboreal taxa (<em>Corylus</em>, <em>Alnus</em>, Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, <em>Populus</em>, <em>Fraxinus</em>, <em>Betula</em> and <em>Carpinus</em>) during the period 2007–2009 from two sites in Lublin city, SE Poland. The sites differed in the character of building development and surrounding vegetation. Pollen monitoring was conducted by the volumetric method using two Hirst-type samplers. Daily and intradiurnal pollen counts were determined. For all the taxa, Spearman’s test revealed statistically significant positive correlations between daily pollen fluctuations at two sites. Nevertheless, the Mann–Whitney <em>U</em>-test showed differences for Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, <em>Fraxinus</em>, <em>Populus</em> and <em>Corylus</em> between sites. The intradiurnal pattern of pollen concentration was characterized by high variation. Cupressaceae/Taxaceae and <em>Populus</em>, clearly differed in hourly pollen concentrations at both sites. Moreover, in the case of <em>Betula</em> and <em>Alnus</em> it was shown that a part of pollen recorded in Lublin can originate from long-distance transport. High pollen concentrations can be expected at different hours of the day. The lowest average pollen concentrations at both sites were found during morning hours at 5 and 6 a.m. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that data from a single pollen-sampling device are not representative of some taxa in the particular districts of the city. Average data obtained from at least two pollen samplers could provide optimum results.


2012 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska ◽  
Krystyna Piotrowska

In the study, the biology of fl owering of <i>Ambrosia artemisiifolia</i> L. was investigated and the pattern of the <i>Ambrosia</i> pollen seasons in Lublin in the years 2001-2008 was characterised. The structure of male and female <i>A. artemisiifolia</i> flowers was observed in cultivated plants under controlled conditions in the 2000 vegetative season. The number of pollen grains produced by the stamen, flower, inflorescence and plant was determined. It was shown that in <i>A. artemisiifolia</i> flowers nonfunctional pistils occurred with a reduced ovary, performing the role of a pollen presenter. The pistils found in female flowers differed significantly in their morphological features from the pistils in male flowers. It was calculated that one stamrn produced an average of 3 375 pollen grains, whereas one flower 16 875. A plant which produces 20 racemes may release over 420 million pollen grains into the atmosphere. The <i>Ambrosia</i> pollen seasons in particular years had different patterns. In some years, the days of maximum concentration were in the second half of August, in other years in the first half of September. Over the 8-year period, the maximum daily concentration had a mean value of 116 pollen grains in m<sup>3</sup> (31-311). Annual total concentrations of <i>Ambrosia</i> pollen grains ranged between 194 and 1200 grains, and it was 523 grains on the average. The pollen seasons were characterised by the occurrence of several-day-long interruptions in the presence of airborne pollen in the atmosphere of Lublin, which may indicate the long-distance transport of <i>Ambrosia</i> pollen.


HortScience ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1052-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Orlandi ◽  
Carlo Sgromo ◽  
Tommaso Bonofiglio ◽  
Luigia Ruga ◽  
Bruno Romano ◽  
...  

Several bioclimatic studies have been developed over recent years considering temperature trends and their influence on vegetative and reproductive phenomena during plant growth. In the applied aerobiology laboratory of Perugia University, various studies of olive (Olea europaea L.) flowering and its relationship with climatic variables have been conducted. Since 1999, a flowering monitoring network in central–southern Italy has been working to track the biological phenomena over the years, the possible differences between the monitoring stations, and the relationships with climate. Olive flowering was monitored in 15 monitoring stations located in four Italian regions (Campania, Calabria, Puglia, and Sicily) representing ≈90% of national olive territories. The flowering phenophase was studied through pollen emission monitoring, making use of scientific instruments that capture defined volumes of atmosphere and allow us to ascertain the pollen emission trends, thereby determining daily average pollen concentrations (pollen grains/m3). The combined analysis of pollen monitoring and meteorological data permitted identifying various groups of stations characterized by the fact that better relationships between reproductive structure development and growing degree-days are obtained with different spring threshold temperatures (low 7 to 10 °C or high 11 to 14 °C). Moreover, the study permitted demonstrating particular meteorological and biological behaviors, providing useful information about plant–climate relationships in a species of economic interest affected by interincompatibility.


1964 ◽  
Vol 30 (2Part1) ◽  
pp. 168-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Martin ◽  
Floyd W. Sharrock

AbstractPrehistoric human and nonhuman feces from alcoves in the Glen Canyon region of southern Utah are a rich source of pollen and spores. The dominant pollen types (determined in a 200-grain pollen count) vary greatly from sample to sample, making stratigraphic and climatic interpretation very difficult. The record of economic plant pollen appears to reflect the prehistoric Pueblo diet. Cleome, Zea, Cucurbita, and Opuntia are the most abundant economic pollen types. Long-distance transport of pollen from distant montane forests will account for the presence of occasional pollen grains of spruce, fir, and alder in certain samples. The salvage and study of ancient human feces promises to reveal new information about the environment and diet of prehistoric man in the Southwest, a development of interest to both the ecologist and the ethnobotanist.


2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Stach ◽  
Magdalena Kluza-Wieloch ◽  
Alicja Zientarska

The aim of the study was to describe the relationships between the flowering phase of selected tree species, whose pollen is known to be allergenic, and fluctuations in the pollen in the air, and to use results obtained for making allergological forecasts. Studies were conducted of five tree taxa: <i>Populus</i>, <i>Ulmus</i>, <i>Salix</i>, <i>Aesculus</i>, and <i>Tilia</i>, in the years 2003-2004. Aeropalinological analyses concerned the above mentioned genera, while in phenological studies specific species were investigated, i.e. the most common representatives of a given genus found in Poland, that is <i>Populus wilsonii</i>, <i>Ulmus laevis</i> Pall. C. K.Schneid., <i>Salix caprea</i> L., <i>Aesculus hippocastanum</i> L. and <i>Tilia cordata</i> Mill. Aerobiological monitoring was performed using a the volumetric method and phenological observations of flowering phases were made according to the Łukasiewicz method. While observing the emergence of individual phenological symptoms and measurements of the concentration of pollen of the investigated taxa in the air of Poznań, a distinct acceleration was observed in 2004, a year that was characterized by a milder winter. This applied not only to the species blooming in early spring, but also to the later ones. Pollen grains of the investigated taxa, except for <i>Aesculus</i>, appeared earlier in aeropalinological observations than the macroscopically observed beginning of flowering in selected trees. Apart from a poplar, the end of flowering in the other trees occurred each year earlier than would follow from the aerobiological observations. This may be explained by the abundance of species within a taxon, and the effect of medium - and long-distance transport.


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