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Spider Web: A Natural Sampler for Analysis of Airborne Pollen–Spores from Santiniketan, West Bengal

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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Abstract

Analysis of pollen–spore spectra from spider webs collected from three different places of Santiniketan, Birbhum District, West Bengal was undertaken to study the airborne pollen–spore and vegetation pattern. A total of 15 spider web samples were collected from the study sites. The pollen and spores were retrieved from the spider web samples based on standardized laboratory procedures with hydrofluoric acid (HF) and acetolysis method. A total of 3601 pollen–spore were retrieved from the samples among which 36 taxa belonging to 27 families of angiosperms, 13 fungal taxa belonging to 10 families and 1 pteridophytic taxon representing 1 family were recorded. The recovered pollen and spore count showed tree taxa (45.90%) were the most dominant, whereas shrubs (1.53%), herbs (31.69%), pteridophyte (0.57%), and fungal spores (20.35%) were also present in the pollen and spore rain of different sites. The pollen grains of taxa, such as Holoptelea integrifolia, Senna siamea, species of Syzygium, Azadirachta indica, Borassus flabellifer, Aegle marmelos, species of Phyllanthus, Ailanthus excelsa, Parthenium hysterophorus, Tridax procumbens and Poaceae were found most commonly in all three sites. Fungal spores of Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Nigrospora were found in moderate (18–20%) frequencies among total pollen–spore count. The study reveals that spider webs act as an effective cost-less natural sampler for analysis of airborne pollen–spore and vegetation patterns.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the UGC Non-NET fellowship for financial assistance and the Department of Botany (DST-FIST & UGC-SAP, DRS) Visva-Bharati, for providing necessary laboratory facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, 731235, India

    Satyajit Oraon, Soumitra Pal, Priyanka Bhandari & Subrata Mondal

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  1. Satyajit Oraon
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  2. Soumitra Pal
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  3. Priyanka Bhandari
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  4. Subrata Mondal
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Correspondence to Subrata Mondal.

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Significance Statement

Spider web as a natural trap showed promising results for evaluation of airborne allergic pollen–spores which will also help to indicate the floristic composition.

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Oraon, S., Pal, S., Bhandari, P. et al. Spider Web: A Natural Sampler for Analysis of Airborne Pollen–Spores from Santiniketan, West Bengal. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 92, 919–927 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-022-01383-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-022-01383-x

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