Comparison of some pollen concentrations in Finland and the Estonian SSR

Transcription

1 Comparison of some pollen concentrations in Finland and the stonian SSR RTVA KUPAS, MARJO LNNA HLANDR, MART SAAR, YRJO MAKNN AROBOLOGA 5 (1989), SUMMARY. Pollen and spore concentrations were compared in Tartu, stonia and in three sites in Finland (Turku, Kuopio and Oulu) during May-September The onset ofquercus, Pinus, P oaceae, Urtica and Rumex flowering started earlier in Tartu than at any site in Finland. The flowering of Juniperus and Artemisia, on the other hand, began earlier in Turku and Kuopio than in Tartu. Pinus and Juniperus showed a significant correlation (number of pollen grains at the same date) between Tartu and Turku and between Turku and Kuopio. P oaceae and Urtica were correlated between all the sites, as was Rumex except between Tartu and Turku. Artemisia was correlated between Tartu and Turku, Turku and Oulu, and Kuopio and Oulu. Cladosporium correlated between Tartu and Turku. The pollen seasons of Poaceae, Urtica and Rumex are prolonged towards the south. Key words: aerobiology, Cladosporium, pollen. Ritva Kupias, Marjo Linnea Helander, Yrj6 M~ikinen, The Finnish Aerobiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Turku, SF Turku (Finland). Maret Saar, Academy of Sciences of the stonian SSR, nstitute of Zoology and Botany, 21 Vanemuise St., SU Tartu (stonian SSR). NTRODUCTON Occurrence of pollen is monitored almost throughout urope. There are collecting sites in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (BRD and DDR), celand, reland, taly, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and Yugoslavia (Nilsson, 1988). Until 1988 there was no information from Albania, Greece, Hungary, Roumania and USSR. Pollen and spores have been monitored in Turku, SW Finland, since specially in spring, southern winds are prevailing. Small amounts of airborne pollens have been observed in Turku every year before the beginning of local flowering. There are only few studies relating to pollen occurrence in different countries (Spieksma et al., 1989). t is, therefore, interesting to study the flowering seasons in neighbouring countries as well, and to find out whether there are any differences in pollen data which would help both countries in pollen prognosis. n April 1989, the Finnish Aerobiology Group started collaboration with the stonian Academy of Sciences in Tartu. Pollen sampling was started in Tartu in the beginning of May. By that time the 94 AROBOLOGA

2 16~ ~70~ OUL 64 KUOP~O 62 / UR~U ~TA T~r Figure 1. Map of sampling sites. 5 (1989) 95

3 flowering of certain important allergenic plants (alder, hazel, birch, willow and poplar) was almost over. To gain further information regarding variations in northsouth direction, Kuopio and Oulu were also included in the study. MATRAL AND MTHODS Tartu (Fig. 1) is situated in the stonian SSR, approx. 150 km south of the Gulf of Finland on the river majogi. The sampling site is at the nstitute of Zoology, in the vicinity of the city, surrounded by a large rural area. Turku is located on the SW coast of Finland, at the boundary between the archipelago and the mainland.the sampling site is in the city area, on the main University campus. Kuopio is situated in the continental part of the country, between two large lakes. The collection site is at the University, in a suburban area. The sampling site in Oulu is approx. 10 km from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the University campus, which is located in a suburban area surrounded by mixed forests. Burkard samplers (Burkard Manufacturing Co) (Leuschner, 1974) were used on all the sites. As far as we know, this is the first use of the Burkard sampler in the USSR. All the samplers are located on the roof, m from ground level, to eliminate the direct influence of the surrounding vegetation. During the pollen season the samplers were con- Table. Correlations of pollen and spore types studied between the sampling sites. QURCUS n = 42 0, 217 TARTU KUOPO PNUS n = 90 0,385*** KUOPO 0,027 0,557"** OUW -0,070 0,144 0,079 JUNPRUS n = 84 0,373*** KUOPO 0,050 0,31 3*** CJLU -0,029-0,035-0,040 POACA n = 129 0,484 * * * KUOPO 0,542*** 0,662*** OUW 0,348*** 0,424*** 0,636*** URTCA n = 129 0,565*** KUOPO 0,463"** 0,537"** OULU 0,338*** 0,359*** 10,698"** RUM n = 111 0,055 KUOPO 0,249** 0,259** OULU 0,471"** 0,212" 0,427*** ARTMSA n = 67 0,404*** KUOPO 0,069 0,133 OULU 0,221 0,329** 0,578*** CLADOSPORUM n=153 0,514"** 96 AROBOLOGA

4 tinuousty in operation The slides were mounted in Gelvatol, and the method of random analysis of M~kinen (198l) was used at all sites. The data are reported as daily means of pollen grains per cubic metre of air. Although the method of analysis was the same in both countries, the coefficient used to convert absolute values to cubic metre values was three times greater in Tartu than in Finland. This was due to the small microscopic field diameter, which results in greater zig-zag variations in daily concentrations. The increase in the number of examined random fields in August made the data more commensurable. Only plants whose complete pollen season falls during May-September are included in the study. ncluded are Quercus, Pinus and Juniperus; further Poaceae, Artemisia, Urtica and Rumex. n Finland Quercus is native only in SW parts. The concentrations of airborne fungal spores were analysed only for Turku and Tartu. The most important spore type causing allergic symptoms, Cladosporium, is included in this report. The daily counts in all the sites for each pollen type were compared by a parametric Pearson correlation analysis (SAS nstitute, 1985) (Tab. ). The lenght of the pollen season (Tab. ) was defined by excluding those aggregates (single days or several days), which contribute less than 1%o of the total, and which are at a distance of more than one week from the nearest <<acceptable>> record (Finnish Pollen Bulletin, suppl. 1980). The total pollen count is the sum of the daily averages for the season as a whole. The <<main pollen season>> of Poaceae and Artemisia starts when the airborne pollen concentrations exceed 30 p.g. x m 3 and continues until the concentrations no longer exceed 30 p.g. x m -3. RSULTS The correlations (number of pollen grains at the same date) are shown in Table.Quercus and Pinus started flowering about one week earlier in Tartu than in Turku (Tab. ); Juniperus 3-4 days earlier in Turku and even in Kuopio than in Tartu. The highest weekly averages of all these three trees (Fig. 2-4) were observed during the same week in Tartu and Turku, in Kuopio one week and in Oulu 2-3 weeks later. The lenght of the season and the total pollen count varied from site to site. Poaceae, Urtica and Rumex started flowering in Tartu 3-15 days earlier than in Turku. On the starting day of grass flowering in Tartu, a few grass pollen grains were also observed on the tapes of the Turku sampler. The highest weekly mean for grasses (Fig. 5) occurred in the same week in Tartu and Turku and in the following week in Kuopio and Oulu. Urtica pollen curves (Fig. 6) in Kuopio and Oulu are almost identical. The pollen curves of Rumex (Fig: 7) are very variable. The last peak for Tartu, in the end of June, occurred in the same week as the maximum in Kuopio and Oulu. The pollen seasons of these herbs are longer at the southern sites than in the north. Flowering of Artemisia (Fig. 8) started 1-2 weeks earlier in Turku and Kuopio than in Tartu, although on the warmest sites in Tartu Artemisia flowered already one week earlier, on July 12 (sight records). The hightest weekly means were earliest in Kuopio. n Turku and Oulu the maximum weekly average was one week and in Tartu two weeks after that of Kuopio. The airborne Cladosporium spore concentrations increased to a high level (over 8000 spores m 4) one week earlier in Tartu than in Turku. The maximum weekly average, on the other hand, was one week earlier in Turku than in Tartu (Fig. 9). DSCUSSON The correlations show some differences in patterns for various pollen types between the four research stations. Poaceae, Urtica and Rumex show more significant correlations than Quercus, Pinus, Juniperus and Artemisia, even though there are differences in the onset of flowering. Cladosporium shows a significant correlation between Tartu and Turku, The abnormally warm and sunny summer (weather conditions almost identical in both countries) resulted in Turku in high airborne pollen concentra- 5 (1989) 97

5 Table H. The seasons of pollen types compared at four different sites. QURCUS START MAMUM DAY DAY p.g. n33 ND DAY TH LNGTH OF TOTAL COUNT SASON (DAYS) p.g. m-a MAN SASON >30 p.g. n3 ~ TARTU MAY 5 MAY MAY MAY13 MAY JUN PNUS TARTU MAY 13 MAY JUN MAY24 MAY JUL KUOPO MAY26 JUN JUL OUW MAY 22 JUN JUL JUNPRUS TARTU MAY 20 MAY MAY MAY16 MAY JUN KUOPO MAY 17 JUN4 80 JUN OUW JUN 9 JUN JUL POACA TARTU MAY 16 JUN SP MAY25 JUN SP KUOPO MAY29 JUN AUG OULU JUN 5 JUN AUG URTCA TARTU MAY 26 JUL SP JUN 10 JUL SP KUOPO JUN16 JUL AUG OUW JUN 16 AUG SP RUM TARTU KUOPO MAY 26 MAY 29; JUN 11 JUN 28 JUN 21 JUN OUW dun 15 JUN ARTMSA JUL 12 JUL 11 JUL 11 JUL TARTU JUL 19: JUL 5 KUOPO JUL 9 OUW JUL 21 AUG AUG 7 97 JUL AUG SP 5 AUG 29 AUG 22 AUG AROBOLOGA

6 150 - x 6) 6_ QURCUS 1989,..~ MAY JUN Figure 2. Weekly mean counts of airborne Quercus pollen in Turku and Tartu in / PNUS /~ '/!ARTTg ) 6_ '~ / KUOPO ; ', \ 0 L UU U J t i f J i i i i MAY JUN JUL '1 Figure 3. Weekly mean counts of airborne Pinus pollen in Turku, Tartu, Kuopio and Oulu in (1989) 99

7 50 40 JUNPRUS 1989, TARTTO 3O & , Figure 4. Weekly mean counts of airborne Juniperus pollen in Turku, Tartu, Kuopio and Oulu in c~ O POACA 1989 TARTTO... ". KUOPO ol; "... /,, /,.*" // 0 NAY ' '1' ' JUN ' '1' ' ~;~ ~ ' ',uo 1 ~... '... ' Figure 5. Weekly mean counts of airborne Poaceae pollen in Turku, Tartu, Kuopio and Oulu in ]00 AROBOLOGA

8 ". URTCA 1989 ;'.. :. : " "' i". ; "'...o'''",, ' ' ~ d_ 50- o..'" MAY ' ' ;UN'''' J;L''' iu6''' 'SP' ' ' Figure 6. Weekly mean counts of airborne Urtica pollen in Turku, Tartu, Kuopio and Oulu in o- c:b ~ / o \ RUM 1989 TARTTO KUOPO 10-0 j., -,, --~ 'l' ' ' i' ' ' - 'l' ' ' 'i' MAY JUN [ JL AUG { SP Figure 7. Weekly mean counts of airborne Rumex pollen in Turku, Tartu, Kuopio and Oulu in (1989) 101

9 300 t, ARTMSA 1989 TARTTO? 200 t t KUOPtO OULU 100 JUL i TAU G e i S P Figure 8. Weekly mean counts of airborne Artemisia pollen in Turku, Tartu, Kuopio and O~lu in i (J] 0 O- 19,o M RTT Figure 9. Weekly mean counts of airborne Cladosporium spores in Turku and Tartu in ]02 AROBOLOGA

10 tions compared with 15 previous years. Strong winds give cause to long distance transport, thus obscuring the delimitation of the pollen seasons both in the beginning and in the end of the season. The vegetation in the surroundings of the sampiing sites is of a crucial importance to variations in pollen concentrations. All the sampling sites, however, are so close to each other, that differences in species and in flowe- ring times are not very pronounced. One season is also a too short period to make very definitive conclusions. More studies are needed and up-to-date prevailing pollen data can enable both countries to make more reliable pollen prognosis. ACKNOWLDGMNTS We are very grateful to The Medical Board of Finland for the financing of this study in Turku and to Fisons Pharmaceuticals for the donation of the Tartu Burkard sampler. RFRNCS HLANDR M., KUPAS R., (1989) - The Finnish Pollen Bulletin, Vol. 14. KUPAS R., POHJOLA A., (1980) - The Finnish Pollen Bulletin, Vol. 5, suppl. LUSCHNR R.M., (1974) - Lufpollen bestimmung in Basel wdhrend der Jiihre 1969 und Verb. Natusforsch. Ges. Basel, 84: M~a(NN Y., (1981) -Random sampling in the study of microscopic slides. Rep. Aerobiol. Lab. Univ. Turku 5: NLSSON S., (1988) -Preliminary inventory of Aerobioo- gical monitoring stations in urope. Aerobiologia 4:4-7. SAAR M., (1989) - The Tartu Pollen Bulletin. SAS NSTmJT, NC., (1985)-SAS User's Guide: Statistics, Version 5 dition. SAS nstitute nc., Cary, North Carolina. SPKSMA F.TH.M., FRNGULL G., NKKLS A.H., MNC- GRUCC G., SMTHUS L.O.M.J., BRCCH., DANKAART W., ROMANO B., (1989) -Comparative study of airborne pollen concentrations in central taly and The Netherlands ( ). Grana 28: (1989) 103