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Medium- and long-range transport events of Alnus pollen in western Mediterranean

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Abstract

Alnus pollen has been frequently detected in the atmosphere of different airborne sampling sites of Southern Spain. However, Alnus sp. populations are very scarce and fragmented in the area, being restricted to a few river valleys in the southwest, and other further away regions of the Iberian Peninsula. This leads to think that the airborne pollen detected could be mainly the result of a medium- or long-distant transport. So, the aim of this study was to characterize the annual patterns of airborne Alnus pollen detected at three different locations of Malaga province, as well as to determine its possible origin, the pollen dispersion potential of these Alnus isolated populations, and their possible reproductive connectivity. Pollen sampling was conducted by means of three Hirst-type volumetric pollen traps. Samples were mounted and counted following the recommendations of the Spanish Aerobiology Network and the European Aeroallergen Society. The possible pollen sources were detected by means of a combination of meteorological information and backward air trajectories analysis. A high inter-annual variability in the annual pollen integrals was found in all the stations, favouring certain meteorological conditions a long-range transport and, therefore, causing the high concentrations detected in some specific days. Alnus pollen seems to have a heterogeneous origin with prevalence of the long-distant transport, which would suggest a possible reproductive connection among distant populations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors specially want to thank the SCAI (Central Service for Research Support) of the University of Malaga for supporting the acquisition of the pollen trap installed in Sierra de las Nieves; the Parauta City Council, the direction of Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park, and Las Conejeras campsite for facilitating the installation of the pollen trap in Sierra de las Nieves; and the staff of Pérez de Guzmán High School for providing support to install and maintain the pollen trap in Ronda.

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [project CGL2014-54731-R], by the Junta de Andalucía [contract 8.06/503.4764], and by the Area of Environment and Sustainability of the Malaga City Council [contracts 8.06/5.03.4721 and 8.07/5.03.5159]. Antonio Picornell was supported by a predoctoral grant financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, in the Program for the Promotion of Talent and its Employability [grant number FPU15/01668]. The pollen trap installed in Sierra de las Nieves was funded by the Herbarium MGC of the SCAI (Central Services of Research Support) of the University of Malaga. All authors are members of the research team RNM115 of Junta de Andalucía, Spain.

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Correspondence to Antonio Picornell.

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Picornell, A., Recio, M., Ruiz-Mata, R. et al. Medium- and long-range transport events of Alnus pollen in western Mediterranean. Int J Biometeorol 64, 1637–1647 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01944-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01944-7

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