scholarly journals Spatial differentiation of airborne arboreal pollen in Lublin (Poland)

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-341
Author(s):  
Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko ◽  
Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska
Keyword(s):  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Spatial Differentiation ◽  
Sampling Device ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Pollen Monitoring ◽  
Se Poland ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Arboreal Pollen ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Positive Correlations

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.

scholarly journals Nine-year record of Alnus pollen deposition in the Roztocze region (SE Poland) with relation to vegetation data

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena A. Pidek
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
Pollen Deposition ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Pollen Monitoring ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Vegetation Control ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Se Poland ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Distance Transport

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.

scholarly journals The phenology of flowering and fluctuations of airborne pollen concentrations of selected trees in Poznań, 2003-2004

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Stach ◽  
Magdalena Kluza-Wieloch ◽  
Alicja Zientarska
Keyword(s):  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Salix Caprea ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Beginning Of Flowering ◽  
Specific Species ◽  
Distance Transport

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.

scholarly journals Neural networks for increased accuracy of allergenic pollen monitoring

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Polling ◽  
Chen Li ◽  
Lu Cao ◽  
Fons Verbeek ◽  
Letty A. de Weger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Allergenic Pollen ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Pollen Monitoring ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Urticaceae Pollen

AbstractMonitoring of airborne pollen concentrations provides an important source of information for the globally increasing number of hay fever patients. Airborne pollen is traditionally counted under the microscope, but with the latest developments in image recognition methods, automating this process has become feasible. A challenge that persists, however, is that many pollen grains cannot be distinguished beyond the genus or family level using a microscope. Here, we assess the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to increase taxonomic accuracy for airborne pollen. As a case study we use the nettle family (Urticaceae), which contains two main genera (Urtica and Parietaria) common in European landscapes which pollen cannot be separated by trained specialists. While pollen from Urtica species has very low allergenic relevance, pollen from several species of Parietaria is severely allergenic. We collect pollen from both fresh as well as from herbarium specimens and use these without the often used acetolysis step to train the CNN model. The models show that unacetolyzed Urticaceae pollen grains can be distinguished with > 98% accuracy. We then apply our model on before unseen Urticaceae pollen collected from aerobiological samples and show that the genera can be confidently distinguished, despite the more challenging input images that are often overlain by debris. Our method can also be applied to other pollen families in the future and will thus help to make allergenic pollen monitoring more specific.

scholarly journals Personalized Pollen Monitoring and Symptom Scores: A Feasibility Study in Grass Pollen Allergic Patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Letty A. de Weger ◽  
Peter Th. W. van Hal ◽  
Bernadette Bos ◽  
Frank Molster ◽  
Marijke Mostert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Grass Pollen ◽  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Pollen Monitoring ◽  
Pollen Counts ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Symptom Scores ◽  
Pollen Exposure ◽  
Grass Pollen Counts

Background: Pollen is a major trigger for allergic symptoms in sensitized individuals. Airborne pollen is usually monitored by Hirst type pollen samplers located at rooftop level, providing a general overview of the pollen distribution in the larger surroundings. In this feasibility study, grass pollen-sensitized subjects monitored the pollen in their direct environment using a portable pollen sampler (Pollensniffer) and scored their symptoms, to study the relation between symptom severity and personal grass pollen exposure. For comparison the symptoms were also correlated with pollen collected by the rooftop sampler.Methods: After recruitment 18 participants were screened for grass pollen specific (GP-sIgE) of which 12 were eligible. Nine participants completed the study (May, 2018). They were asked to monitor personal pollen exposure using a Pollensniffer on their way to school, work or other destination, and to score their symptoms via a mobile app on a scale from 0 to 10. Daily pollen concentrations were collected by a Hirst type sampler at rooftop level. Pollen grains were analyzed using a microscope.Results: Three of the four participants with high GP-sIgE (≥9.6 kU/l) reported high symptom scores (&gt;4) and an analysis showed a significant correlation (CC) between eye, nose, and lung symptoms and the grass pollen counts collected by the Pollensniffer, as well as the daily grass pollen concentrations monitored by the rooftop sampler (CC≥0.54). In contrast, the participants with low GP-sIgE levels (&lt;9.6 kU/l) reported low symptom scores (≤4) and often other sensitizations were present. For these subjects, no significant positive correlations (CC&lt;0.3) of symptoms with either grass pollen collected by the personal or the rooftop sampler were found.Conclusion: The results of this feasibility study suggest that correlations between the severity of clinical symptoms of grass pollen allergic patients, and grass pollen counts as determined by the Pollensniffer or a rooftop sampler, is restricted to patients with high GP-sIgE levels, high symptom scores, and no relevant other sensitizations. Based on the low numbers of subjects with severe symptoms included in this feasibility study, no conclusions can be drawn on the performance of the Pollensniffer in relating symptoms and pollen exposure in comparison with the rooftop sampler.Trial Registration: The study was approved by the Committee Medical Ethics of the LUMC (approval numbers: NL63953.058.17/ P17.304).

scholarly journals Ecological features of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. flowers and characteristics of Ambrosia L. pollen seasons in the condition of Lublin (Poland) in the years 2001-2008

2012 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska ◽  
Krystyna Piotrowska
Keyword(s):  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Ambrosia Artemisiifolia ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Ecological Features ◽  
Pollen Seasons ◽  
Male Flowers

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.

scholarly journals Earlier Flowering of Betula pendula Roth in Augsburg, Germany, Due to Higher Temperature, NO2 and Urbanity and Relationship with Betula spp. Pollen Season

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 10325
Author(s):  
Franziska Kolek ◽  
Maria Plaza ◽  
Vivien Leier-Wirtz ◽  
Arne Friedmann ◽  
Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pollen Season ◽  
Betula Pendula ◽  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Flowering Phenology ◽  
Random Trees ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Pollen Monitoring ◽  
Betula Pendula Roth ◽  
Full Flowering ◽  
Pollen Seasons

Flowering and pollen seasons are sensitive to environmental variability and are considered climate change indicators. However, it has not been concluded to what extent flowering phenology is indeed reflected in airborne pollen season locally. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the commonly represented in temperate climates and with highly allergenic pollen Betula pendula Roth, the responsiveness of flowering to different environmental regimes and also to check for commensurate changes in the respective pollen seasons. The region of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, was initially screened for birch trees, which were geolocated at a radius of 25 km. Random trees across the city were then investigated during three full flowering years, 2015–2017. Flowering observations were made 3–7 times a week, from flower differentiation to flower desiccation, in a total of 43 plant individuals. Data were regressed against meteorological parameters and air pollutant levels in an attempt to identify the driving factors of flowering onset and offset. Flowering dates were compared with dates of the related airborne pollen seasons per taxon; airborne pollen monitoring took place daily using a Hirst-type volumetric sampler. The salient finding was that flowering occurred earlier during warmer years; it also started earlier at locations with higher urbanity, and peaked and ended earlier at sites with higher NO2 concentrations. Airborne pollen season of Betula spp. frequently did not coincide locally with the flowering period of Betula pendula: while flowering and pollen season were synchronized particularly in their onset, local flowering phenology alone could explain only 57.3% of the pollen season variability. This raises questions about the relationship between flowering times and airborne pollen seasons and on the rather underestimated role of the long-distance transport of pollen.

Modern and Holocene Pollen Assemblages from Some Small Arctic Lakes on Somerset Island, NWT, Canada

1995 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Gajewski
Keyword(s):  
Initial Period ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Arctic Lakes ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Pollen ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Pollen Types ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Somerset Island

AbstractModern pollen samples from 15 lakes along a north-south transect on western Somerset Island, NWT, Canada, show a decrease in pollen concentrations from the high arctic to the mid-arctic zone, but there are few differences in the pollen percentages between these sites. Long-distance transport accounts for up to 50% of the pollen in these lake sediments. Cores from two lakes show few changes in the percentages of important pollen types, except for an initial period, before 6000 yr B.P., of increased Salix. The pollen concentration of lake RS36 from the mid-arctic is twice that of lake RS29 from the high arctic, and at both sites the concentrations decreased during the past 6000 yr B.P. This suggests a climatic deterioration during the past 6000 yr which has caused a decrease in the abundance of plants on the landscape.

High Ambrosia pollen concentrations in Poland respecting the long distance transport (LDT)

2020 ◽  
Vol 736 ◽  
pp. 139615
Author(s):  
Danuta Stępalska ◽  
Dorota Myszkowska ◽  
Katarzyna Piotrowicz ◽  
Katarzyna Kluska ◽  
Kazimiera Chłopek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Long Distance ◽  
Ambrosia Pollen ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Distance Transport

scholarly journals Automatic Image Classification Using Neural Networks Increases Accuracy for Allergenic Pollen Monitoring

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Polling ◽  
Chen Li ◽  
Lu Cao ◽  
Fons Verbeek ◽  
Letty de Weger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Airborne Pollen ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Allergenic Pollen ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Pollen Monitoring ◽  
Pollen Concentrations ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Urticaceae Pollen

Abstract Monitoring of airborne pollen concentrations provides an important source of information for the globally increasing number of hay fever patients. Airborne pollen are traditionally counted under the microscope, but with the latest developments in image recognition methods, automating this process has become feasible. A challenge that persists, however, is that many pollen grains cannot be distinguished beyond the genus or family level using a microscope. Here, we assess the use of a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to increase taxonomic accuracy for airborne pollen. As a case study we use the nettle family (Urticaceae), which contains two main genera (Urtica and Parietaria) common in European landscapes which pollen cannot be separated by trained specialists. While pollen from Urtica species have very low allergenic relevance, those from several species of Parietaria are severely allergenic. We collect pollen from both fresh as well as from herbarium specimens and use these to train the CNN model VGG16. The model shows that Urticaceae pollen can be distinguished with 98.3% accuracy. We then apply our model on Urticaceae pollen collected from aerobiological samples and show that the genera can be confidently distinguished, despite the more challenging input images that are often overlain by debris. Our method can also be applied to other pollen families in the future and will thus help to make allergenic pollen monitoring more specific.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document