Primary biological aerosol particles in the atmosphere: a review

Figures & data

Fig. 1.  Cycling and effects of primary biological aerosol particles in the atmosphere and biosphere (adapted from Pöschl, 2005).

Table 1. Characteristic types of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP)

Particle types	Examples
Biological organisms or dispersal units (dead or alive, isolated or aggregated)	Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae, spores, pollen, lichen, archaea, viruses, etc.
Solid fragments or excretions of biological organisms or dispersal units	Detritus, microbial fragments, plant debris/leaf litter, animal tissue and excrements, brochosomes, etc.

Table 2. Taxonomic information on biological particles in air mentioned in the review

Kingdom	Superphylum	Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus	Species
Bacteria		Firmicutes	Bacilli	Bacillales	Bacillaceae	Bacillus	Bacillus subtilis
Bacteria		Proteobacteria	Alphaproteobacteria	Sphingomonadales	Sphingomonadaceae	Sphingomonas	Sphingomonas echinoides
Bacteria			Betaproteobacteria
Bacteria			Gammaproteobacteria	Pseudomonadales	Pseudomonadaceae	Pseudomonas	Pseudomonas syringae (which is also the main component of Snomax)
Bacteria							Pseudomonas fluorescens
Bacteria							Pseudomonas viridiflava
Bacteria							Pseudomonas antarctica
Bacteria					Moraxellaceae	Acinetobacter
Bacteria						Psychrobacter
Bacteria				Enterobacteriales	Enterobacteriaceae	Pantoea	Pantoea agglomerans (formally called Enterobacter agglomeransor Erwinia herbicola)
Bacteria						Pectobacterium	Pectobacterium carotovorum (formally called Erwinia carotovora)
Bacteria						Escherichia	Escherichia coli
Bacteria				Xanthomonadales	Xanthomonadaceae	Xanthomonas
Bacteria						Luteimonas
Bacteria						Stenotrophomonas
Bacteria			Deltaproteobacteria
Bacteria			Epsilonproteobacteria
Bacteria	Chlamydiae/ Verrucomicrobia group	Verrucomicrobia
Bacteria	Bacteroidetes/Chlorophobi group	Bacteroidetes	Bacteroidia
			Flavobacteria	Flavobacteriales	Flavobacteriaceae	Flavobacterium
Bacteria		Cyanobacteria		Chroococcales		Chroococcus	Chroococcus limenticus
Bacteria		Cyanobacteria		Nostocales	Nostocaceae	Nostoc	Nostoc Muscorum
Bacteria		Cyanobacteria		Oscillatoriales		Lyngbya	Lyngbya lagerheinii
Bacteria		Cyanobacteria		Oscillatoriales	Phormidiaceae	Phormidium	Phormidium fragile
Bacteria		Cyanobacteria		Oscillatoriales		Schizothrix	Schizothrix purpurascens
Bacteria	Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria group	Acidobacteria
Bacteria		Planctomycetes
Bacteria		Chlorophlexi
Bacteria		Actinobacteria	Actinobacteria	Actinomycetales	Microbacteriaceae	Microbacterium
Bacteria					Micrococcaceae	Arthrobacter	Arthrobacter agilis
Bacteria					Pseudonocardiaceae	Saccharomonospora	Saccharomonospora viridis
Bacteria					Streptomycetaceae	Streptomyces	Streptomyces albus
Fungi		Basidiomycota
Fungi		Ascomycota	Dothideomycetes	Capnodiales	Davidiellaceae	Cladosporium	Cladosporium cladosporioides
Fungi							Cladosporium herbarum
Fungi			Eurotiomycetes	Eurotiales	Trichocomaceae	Penicillium	Penicillium brevicompactum
Fungi							Penicillium chrysogenum
Fungi							Penicillium digitatum
Fungi							Penicillium frequentes
Fungi							Penicillium melinii
Fungi							Penicillium minioluteum
Fungi							Penicillium notatum
Fungi						Aspergillus	Aspergillus flavus
Fungi							Aspergillus fumigates
Fungi							Aspergillus versicolor
Fungi						Paecilomyces	Paecilomyces variotii
Fungi			Leotiomycetes	Erysiphales	Erysiphaceae	Blumeria
Fungi			Sordariomycetes	Hypocreales	Nectriaceae	Fusarium	Fusarium avanaceum
Fungi							Fusarium acuminatum
Fungi							Fusarium oxysporum
Fungi							Fusarium tricinctum
Fungi				Microascales	Microascaseae	Microascus	Microascus brevicaulis (synonym: Scopulariopsis brevicaulis)
Fungi		ZygomycotaSubphylum: Mucoromycotina	Zygomycetes	Mucorales	Mucoraceae	Rhizopus	Rhizopus stolonifera
Plantae		Chlorophyta	Chlorophyceae
Plantae		Pinophyta	Pinopsida	Pinales	Pinaceae	Pinus (pine)
		Angiospermae		Asparagales	Amaryllidaceae	Narcissus
				Asterales	Asteraceae	Ambrosia	Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
				Caryophyllales	Amaranthaceae	Amaranthus
Plantae				Ericales	Theaceae	Camellia	Camellia sinensis (Chinese tea)
Plantae				Fagales	Betulaceae	Betula (birch)	Betula occidentalis (water birch)
Plantae						Alnus (alder)
Plantae					Fagaceae	Quercus (oak)
Plantae				Lamiales	Lamiaceae	Salvia (sage)
Plantae				Malpighiales	Salicaceae	Populus (poplar)	Populus nigra ‘italica’ (Lombardy poplar)
						Salix (willow)
Plantae				Poales	Poaceae (true grasses)	Agrostis	Agrostis gigantea (red top grass)
Plantae					Poaceae (true grasses), subfamily: Pooideae	Poa	Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass)
Plantae		Rhodophyta	Porphyridiophyceae	Porphyridiales	Porphyridiaceae	Porphyridium	Porphyridium aerugineum
Protista							Seaweed
Protista /Protozoa		Dinoflagellata	Dinophyceae	Peridiniales	Peridiniaceae	Cachonina	Cachonina Niei
Chromalveolata		Heterokontophyta	Chrysophyceae	Chromulinales	Chromulinaceae	Ochromonas	Ochromonus danica
Chromalveolata		Heterokontophyta	Xanthophyceae
Archaea		Crenarchaeota

Fig. 2.  Column density of bacterial tracer (10⁶ m⁻²), simulated from estimated emissions for a set of ten ecosystems estimates (Burrows et al., 2009b).

Fig. 3.  Fungal spores with and without coating by secondary organic aerosol (dark gray envelope in left panel). Electron micrographs of aerosol filter samples from pristine tropical rainforest air in the Amazon (Pöschl et al., 2010), (Reproduced with permission from AAAS).

Table 3. Global emission estimates for different types of PBAP and size ranges of air particulate matter (PMx, x = upper limit of particle diameter; TSP = total suspended particulates)

	Global emissions (Tg yr^−1)	Size range	References
Bacteria	0.74 (0.4–1.8)	Diameter: 1 µm (PM1)	Burrows et al. (2009b)
	0.7	Diameter: 1 µm (PM1)	Hoose et al. (2010a)
	2.58	Diameter: 1.17 µm	A. Sesartic, personal communication
	28.1	Lognormally distributed with geometric mean number diameter: 2 µm, standard deviation = 1.37	Jacobson and Streets (2009)
Fungal spores	8	Diameter: 4 µm (PM4)	Sesartic and Dallafior (2011)
	28	Two size modes: fine (<2.5 µm) and coarse (2.5–10 µm) (PM10)	Heald and Spracklen, (2009)
	31	Diameter: 5 µm (PM5)	Hoose et al. (2010a)
	50	Diameter: 5 µm (PM5)	Elbert et al. (2007)
	186	Lognormally distributed with geometric mean number diameter: 3 µm, standard deviation = 1.37	Jacobson and Streets (2009)
Pollen	47	Diameter: 30 µm (PM30)	Hoose et al. (2010a)
	84	Lognormally distributed with geometric mean number diameter: 30 µm, standard deviation = 1.37	Jacobson and Streets (2009)
Total PBAP	<10 (dominated by plant debris and fungal spores),	Diameter: 4 µm for fungal spores; diameter not specified for plant debris (TSP)	Winiwarter et al. (2009)
	56 (0–90)	Diameter <2.5 µm (PM2.5)	Penner (1995)
	78 (includes only bacteria, fungal spores and pollen)	Diameters as above (PM30)	Hoose et al. (2010a)
	186	Split equally into the two coarse size fractions: 2.5–5 and 5–10 µm (PM10)	Mahowald et al. (2008)
	296 (includes only bacteria, fungal spores and pollen)	Diameters as above	Jacobson and Streets, (2009)
	~1000 (includes cellular fragments)	TSP	Jaenicke (2005)

Table 4. Characteristic magnitudes of the number and mass concentrations of PBAP in air over vegetated regions

	Number concentration [m^−3 air]	Mass concentration [µg m^−3]	Size range	References
Bacteria	~10^4	~0.1	PM10	Bauer et al. (2002a); Burrows et al. (2009a)
Plant debris (free cellulose)		~0.1–1	PM10	Sánchez-Ochoa et al. (2007)
Viral particles	~10^4	~10^−3		This work, Sect. 2.4
Fungal spores	~10^3–10^4	~0.1–1	TSP	Elbert et al. (2007); Fröhlich-Nowoisky et al. (2009)
Fungal hyphal fragments	~10^3			Pady and Gregory (1963)
Pollen	~10 (up to ~10^3)	~1	TSP	Sofiev et al. (2006); Fröhlich-Nowoisky et al. (2009)
Algae	~100 (up to ~10^3)	~10^−3		Reisser (2002)
Fern spores	~10 (up to ~10^3)	~1	TSP	Mücke and Lemmen (2008)

Fig. 4.  Characteristic time series and number size distribution of fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAPs) measured with an ultraviolet aerodynamic particle sizer (UV-APS) in central Europe (Mainz, Germany, October 2006). The peaks at ~1.5, ~3 and ~13 µm can be attributed to bacteria, fungal spores, and pollen. N _F,c is the number concentration of FBAPs, and N _T,c is the number concentration of total aerosol particles with aerodynamic diameters D _a>1 µm; dN _F/dlogD _a is the number size distribution function of FBAPs (Huffman et al., 2010).

Table 5. Compilation of laboratory measurements of the hygroscopic properties of biological particles (n.a.=data not available)

		Measurements at subsaturation		Measurements at supersaturation
	Diameter, D ve–volume equivalent, D gma. geometric mass aerodynamic, D mma – mass median aerodynamic, D a – aerodynamic	Maximum growth factor at RH	RH at which hygroscopic growth was measured	Critical supersaturation	CCN/CN ratio	References
Bacteria
Pseudomonas syringae, Erwinia herbicola	n.a.	–	–	activation observed at 0.5%	n.a.	Snider et al. (1985)
Erwinia carotovora	3 µm (maximum cellular  dimension)	–	–	0.2% to 2.2%	≤ 0.5	Franc and DeMott (1998)
Arthrobacter agilis	1.1 µm D ve	–	–	0.11%	1.03±0.7	Bauer et al. (2003)
“new species”	1.1 µm D ve	–	–	0.11%	0.88±0.5	Bauer et al. (2003)
Sphingomonas echinoides	1.2 µm D ve	–	–	0.09%	0.92±0.6	Bauer et al. (2003)
Sphingomonas echinoides – fixed	1.2 µm D ve	–	–	0.07%	0.99±0.4	Bauer et al. (2003)
Saccharomonospora viridis	1.15 µm D gma	1.3 at 95%	95%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Streptomyces albus	1.15 µm D gma	1.09 at 95%	95%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Bacillus subtilis	0.94 µm D mma	~1.22 at 90%	10–90%	–	–	Johnson et al. (1999)
Pseudomonas syringae	0.89 µm D mma	~1.15 at 90%	10–90%	–	–	Johnson et al. (1999)
Escherichia coli	0.63 µm D a	1.34 at 98%	20–98%	–	–	Lee et al. (2002)
Bacillus subtilis	0.75 µm D a	1.16 at 98%	20–98%	–	–	Lee et al. (2002)
Fungal spores
Aspergillus flavus	3.3 µm D gma	1.15 at 95%	95%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Aspergillus fumigatus	1.9 µm D gma	1.16 at 98%	95 and 98%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Cladosporium cladosporioides	2.3 µm D gma	1.12 at 98%	95 and 98%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Paecilomyces variotii	2.5 µm D gma	1.06 at 98%	95 and 98%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Penicillium chrysogenum	2.6 µm D gma	1.07 at 98%	95 and 98%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Penicillium minioluteum	1.6 µm D gma	1.12 at 98%	95 and 98%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Scopulariopsis brevicaulis	5.1 µm D gma	1.08 at 95%	95%	–	–	Madelin and Johnson (1992)
Penicillium brevicompactum	2.9 µm D gma	~1.05 at 90%	30–100%	–	–	Reponen et al. (1996)
Penicillium melinii	2.4 µm D gma	~1.08 at 90%	30–100%	–	–	Reponen et al. (1996)
Aspergillus versicolor	2.1 µm D gma	~1.07 at 90%	30–100%	–	–	Reponen et al. (1996)
Aspergillus fumigatus	2.1 µm D gma	~1.06 at 90%	30–100%	–	–	Reponen et al. (1996)
Cladosporium cladosporioides	1.8 µm D gma	~1.04 at 90%	30–100%	–	–	Reponen et al. (1996)
Pollen
various ragweed, amaranth-chenopod and grass pollens	n.a.	Mass increase by up to a factor of 2	‘very dry’ to ‘moist’	–	–	Durham (1943)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia	20 µm	Effective density increase: 1.52 at 93–100%, no geometric growth	11–100%	–	–	Harrington and Metzger (1963)
various pollens (deciduous trees, conifers and grasses)	22 to 115 µm	Mass increase by up to a factor of 4 at 95%	73 and 95%	–	–	Diehl et al. (2001)
Daffodil, water birch and pussy willow pollens	25 µm (birch pollens)	Mass increase by up to a factor of 1.3 at 85%	2–~85%	≤0.002% (calculated)		Pope (2010)
Algal exudates (extracellular polymeric substances, EPS)
Artificial seawater with diatomaceaous and nanoplancton exudates	40–105 nm	~2.5 at 92%, lower than for artificial seawater devoid of exudates	45–92%	0.1 to 0.5% for sizes between 40 and 105 nm	–	Fuentes et al. (2011)
Artificial seawater with exudate of four different algal species	25–500 nm	~4 at 99%, lower than for artificial seawater devoid of exudates	75–99%	0.1 to 0.4% for diameters between 40 and 100 nm	–	Wex et al. (2010)

Fig. 5.  Ice nucleating number fraction f _IN at the observed IN onset and maximum activity temperatures from the experiments listed in Table 6. For comparison, f _IN data for immersion freezing on mineral dust (natural soil samples, median diameters of 0.2–1 µm) are included (M. Niemand, personal communication).

Table 6. Compilation of laboratory measurements of the IN properties of biological particles (n.a.=data not available)

Species	Highest T,°C where INA observed	Active number fraction or active IN per unit mass at highest INA temperature	Highest observed active fraction and corresponding temperature	Freezing mode (Immersion freezing = If, Contact freezing = Ctf, Condensation freezing = Cdf)	References
Bacteria isolated from air or precipitation
Pseudomonas fluorescens isolated from leaves, lake/stream water and/or snow	−10	0.02	0.94 (T=−16°C)	If	Maki and Willoughby (1978)
Unidentified microbacterium isolated from air above the Arctic Ocean	−4	0.05	1 (T = − 18°C)	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Pseudomonas sp. isolated from air above the Arctic Ocean	−9	0.1	n.a.	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Pseudomonas syringae isolated from rain and hail	−4	n.a.	n.a.	If	Sands et al. (1982)
Pseudomonas syringae and Erwinia herbicola isolated from air above plant canopies and bare soil	−10	n.a.	n.a.	If	Lindemann et al. (1982)
Pseudomonas syringae isolated from air and rainwater sampled over a soybean field	−5	n.a.	n.a.	If	Constantinidou et al. (1990)
Pseudomonas sp. isolated from cloud and rain water	−21 to −29	n.a.	n.a.	If	Ahern et al. (2007)
Pseudomonas syringae isolated from rain, snow, alpine streams, lakes and wild plants	−2 to −6	10^−7	n.a.	If	Morris et al. (2008)
Microbacterium, Xanthomonas, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Luteimonas, Stenotrophomonas and unspecified bacteria isolated from snow	−13 to −18	n.a.	n.a.	If	Mortazavi et al. (2008)
Bacteria isolated from air other habitats (list not exhaustive)
Pseudomonas syringae	−5	2·10^−6	5·10^−5 (T = − 15°C)	If	Vali et al. (1976)
Pseudomonas syringae, different strains	–5	0.0043 to 10^–7	n.a.	If	Gross et al. (1983)
Pseudomonas syringae strain 31R1	−1	10^−8	0.5 (T = − 12°C)	If	Lindow et al. (1989)
Pseudomonas syringae	−8±1	0.0032	n.a.	If/Cdf	Möhler et al. (2008)
Pseudomonas viridiflava/Pseudomonas syringae mixture	−9.7	0.005	n.a.	If/Cdf	Möhler et al. (2008)
Pseudomonas syringae isolated from decaying alder leaves (Alnus tenuifolia)	−3	10^−6	0.01(T = − 20°C)	If	Maki et al. (1974)
Pseudomonas sp. isolated from the guts of sub-Antartic beetles	−3.4	10^−6	n.a.	If	Worland and Block (1999)
Pseudomonas Antarctica	−4	10^−7	0.2 (T = − 10°C)	If	Obata et al. (1999)
Erwinia herbicola	−9±1	0.0007	n.a.	If/Cdf	Möhler et al. (2008)
Erwinia herbicola, cell-free centrifuged suspensions	−3	n.a.	n.a.	If	Phelps et al. (1986)
M1	−3	10^−6	0.01 (T = − 10°C)	If	Yankofsky et al. (1981)
M1	−3	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	Levin and Yankofsky (1983)
M1	−3	n.a.	n.a.	If	Levin and Yankofsky (1983)
Flavobacterium sp., Psychrobacter sp., and Sphingomonas sp. isolated from permafrost soil	n.a.	n.a.	4·10^−7 (T = − 10°C)	If	Ponder et al. (2005)
Snomax	−5.6	0.01	0.23 (T = − 8±1°C)	If/Cdf	Möhler et al. (2008)
Snomax	−4	1.3·10^12 g^−1	5.5·10^12 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	Cdf	Ward and DeMott (1989)
Snomax	−5.3	n.a.	n.a.	If	Wood et al. (2002)
Snomax	−26, Rhi = 116±6%	0.001–0.01	n.a.	Deposition nucleation (no experiments at warmer T)	Chernoff and Bertram (2010)
INA bacteria on oat leaves	−2.5	10^−7	0.008 (T < − 4°C)	If	Hirano et al. (1985)
several representative Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice bacterial isolates	−40 to −42	n.a.	n.a.	If	Junge and Swanson (2008)
Lichens
Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca (the most active of 15 investigated lichen species)	−2.3	10^3 g^−1, grinded material	10^8 g^−1 (T = − 3C), grinded material	If	Kieft (1988)
Psora decipiens (the least active of 15 investigated lichen species)	−8	10^3 g^−1, grinded material	10^5 g^−1 (T = − 12 °C), grinded material	If	Kieft (1988)
18 lichen mycobionts	−4.1 to −10	n.a.	n.a.	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Lecanora dispersa (lichen fungus)	−4.2	~10^4 g^−1	~7·10^7 g^−1 (T = − 8 °C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Cladonia cristatella (lichen fungus)	−6.3	~10^6 g^−1	~5·10^6 g^−1( (T = − 12 °C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Ascospora fuscata (lichen fungus)	−9.1	~2·10^4 g^−1	~2·10^5 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca (lichen fungus), different clones	−4.6 to −4.8	10^4 to 2·10^5 g^−1	~2·10^7 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
13 lichen photobionts	−5.1 to −16	n.a.	n.a.	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Trebouxia incrustata (lichen photobiont)	−9.1	~2·10^4 g^−1	~6·10^4 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Trebouxia erici (lichen photobiont)	−9.2	~6·10^5 g^−1	~10^6 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Trebouxia sp. (lichen photobiont)	−6	~6·10^4 g^−1	~10^6 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	If	Kieft and Ahmadjian (1989)
Unspecified lichen fragments from Norway, Faroe Islands, Ethiopia, UK, Australia, Antartica	−5.1	n.a.	n.a.	If	Henderson-Begg et al. (2009)
Fungi
Penicillium digitatum spores isolated from air	−10	0.01	n.a.	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Cladosporium herbarum spores isolated from air	−15	0.01	n.a.	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Penicillium notatum spores isolated from air	−22	0.01	n.a.	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Penicillium frequentes spores isolated from air	−22.5	0.01	n.a.	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Rhizopus stolonifera spores isolated from air	−23	0.01	n.a.	If	Jayaweera and Flanagan (1982)
Fusarium avanaceum	−2.5	10^5 g^−1	10^11 g^−1 (T = − 10°C)	If	Pouleur et al. (1992)
Fusarium acuminatum	−5	n.a.	n.a.	If	Pouleur et al. (1992)
Fusarium sp. isolated from the guts of insect larvae	−5	n.a.	n.a.	If	Tsumuki et al. (1992)
Fusarium oxysporum (12 out of 42 isolates, from plants)	−1	n.a.	n.a.	If	Richard et al. (1996)
Fusarium tricinctum (8 out of 14 isolates, from plants and soil)	−1	n.a.	n.a.	If	Richard et al. (1996)
Cladosporium spores	−28.5	~0.002	0.2 to 1 (T = − 35°C)	If	Iannone et al. (2011)
Pollen
Pine pollen	−8	0.1	0.9 (T = − 18°C)	Cdf	Diehl et al. (2001)
Pine pollen	−16	n.a.	n.a.	If	Diehl et al. (2002)
Pine pollen	−12	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	Diehl et al. (2002)
Birch pollen	−8	0.04	0.98 (T = − 18°C)	Cdf	Diehl et al. (2001)
Birch pollen	−10	n.a.	n.a.	If	Diehl et al. (2002)
Birch pollen	−6	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	Diehl et al. (2002)
Oak pollen	−8	0.03	0.5 (T = − 18°C)	Cdf	Diehl et al. (2001)
Oak pollen	−14	n.a.	n.a.	If	Diehl et al. (2002)
Oak pollen	−10	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	Diehl et al. (2002)
Grass pollen	−8	0.02	0.8 (T = − 18°C)	Cdf	Diehl et al. (2001)
Grass pollen	−14	n.a.	n.a.	If	Diehl et al. (2002)
Grass pollen	−10	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	Diehl et al. (2002)
Alder pollen	−10	n.a.	n.a.	If	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Alder pollen	−10	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Lombardy poplar pollen	−18	n.a.	n.a.	If	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Lombardy poplar pollen	−14	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Redtop grass pollen	−16	n.a.	n.a.	If	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Redtop grass pollen	−16	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Kentucky blue pollen	−14	n.a.	n.a.	If	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Kentucky blue pollen	−10	n.a.	n.a.	Ctf	von Blohn et al. (2005)
Various pollen, including crushed pollen	no IN observed	−	−	Deposition nucleation	Diehl et al. (2001)
Algae
25 algae species isolated from Antarctic soils	−5 (>-8 for 4 out of 25 species)	n.a.	n.a.	If	Worland and Lukesova (2000)
Seaweed (8 species)	−7	n.a.	n.a.	If	Lundheim (1997)
Leaf litter
Poplar mulch	−5	~10^5 g^−1	~5·10^9 g^−1 (T = − 15°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1972)
Sage leaf litter	−6	~10^3 g^−1	~10^7 g^−1 (T = − 17°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1972)
Green poplar leaves	−9	~2·10^2 g^−1	~2·10^4 g^−1 (T = − 17°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1972)
Leaf litter of several trees and grasses in tropical climate zones	−7	~10^2 g^−1	~4·10^4 g^−1 (T = − 18°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1976)
Leaf litter of several trees and grasses in humid mesothermal climate zones	−6	~10^2 g^−1	~4·10^8 g^−1 (T = − 23°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1976)
Leaf litter of several trees and grasses in humid microthermal climate zones	−4	~10^2 g^−1	~4·10^10 g^−1 (T = − 22°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1976)
Tea leaf litter	−5	10^2 g^−1	~5·10^4 g^−1 (T = − 12°C)	If	Schnell and Tan-Schnell (1982)
Plankton
Cachonina Niei	−3	10^2 g^−1	~1 (T = − 14°C); 10^6 g^−1 (T = − 10°C)	If	Schnell (1975)
Ochromonus danica and Porphyridium aerugineum	>− 15	n.a.	n.a.	If	Schnell (1975)
Unspecified mixture of 95% phytoplankton, 5% zooplankton and associated debris	−3.5	10^2 g^−1	10^6 g^−1 (T = − 10°C)	If	Schnell and Vali (1975)

Table

AMS	Aerodyne Mass Spectrometer
ATOFMS	TSI Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer
ATP	Adenosine Triphosphate
BAMS	Bioaerosol Mass Spectrometry
Bp	Base Pairs
BS	Break-Down Spectroscopy
CCN	Cloud Condensation Nuclei
CFU	Colony Forming Units
DAPI	4.6-diamidino-2-phenylindole
ddNTP	dideoxynucleotidetriphophate
DNA	Deoxyribonucleic Acid
dNTP	deoxynucleotidetriphosphate
EPS	Exopolymer Secretions
FBAP	Fluorescent Biological Aerosol Particles
FISH	Fluorescent in-situ hybridization
GF	Growth Factor
Hulis	Humic Like Substances
IN	Ice Nuclei
INA	Ice Nucleation Active
IPCC	Intergovernmental panel on climate change
ISI	Institute for Scientific Information
ITS	Internal Transcribed Spacer
LDD	Long Distance Dispersal
LIBS	Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
LIDAR	LIght Detection And Ranging
MALDI-TOF	Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight
MS	Mass Spectrometry
NCBI	National Center for Biotechnology Information
OC	Organic Carbon
PBAP	Primary Biological Aerosol Particles
PCR	Polymerase Chain Reaction
PIXE	Particle-Induced x-ray Emission
PM	Patriculate Matter
RH	Relative Humidity
RNA	Ribonucleic Acid
rRNA	Ribosomal RNA
SEM	Scanning Electron Microscopy
SIBS	Spark-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
SOA	Secondary Organic Aerosol
STXM	Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy with Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure
TIRFM	Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
T-RFLP	Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism
TSP	Total Suspended Particles
UV	Ultraviolet Light
UV-APS	Ultraviolet Aerodynamic Particle Sizer
WIBS	Wide Issue Bioaerosol Spectrometer

Table

AMS	Aerodyne Mass Spectrometer
ATOFMS	TSI Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer
ATP	Adenosine Triphosphate
BAMS	Bioaerosol Mass Spectrometry
Bp	Base Pairs
BS	Break-Down Spectroscopy
CCN	Cloud Condensation Nuclei
CFU	Colony Forming Units
DAPI	4.6-diamidino-2-phenylindole
ddNTP	dideoxynucleotidetriphophate
DNA	Deoxyribonucleic Acid
dNTP	deoxynucleotidetriphosphate
EPS	Exopolymer Secretions
FBAP	Fluorescent Biological Aerosol Particles
FISH	Fluorescent in-situ hybridization
GF	Growth Factor
Hulis	Humic Like Substances
IN	Ice Nuclei
INA	Ice Nucleation Active
IPCC	Intergovernmental panel on climate change
ISI	Institute for Scientific Information
ITS	Internal Transcribed Spacer
LDD	Long Distance Dispersal
LIBS	Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
LIDAR	LIght Detection And Ranging
MALDI-TOF	Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight
MS	Mass Spectrometry
NCBI	National Center for Biotechnology Information
OC	Organic Carbon
PBAP	Primary Biological Aerosol Particles
PCR	Polymerase Chain Reaction
PIXE	Particle-Induced x-ray Emission
PM	Patriculate Matter
RH	Relative Humidity
RNA	Ribonucleic Acid
rRNA	Ribosomal RNA
SEM	Scanning Electron Microscopy
SIBS	Spark-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
SOA	Secondary Organic Aerosol
STXM	Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy with Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure
TIRFM	Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
T-RFLP	Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism
TSP	Total Suspended Particles
UV	Ultraviolet Light
UV-APS	Ultraviolet Aerodynamic Particle Sizer
WIBS	Wide Issue Bioaerosol Spectrometer

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