Six years of observation of airborne and deposited pollen in central European Russia: first results

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare the pollen spectra recorded in rural and urban environments in order to examine whether pollen data obtained in the urban environment could also represent the situation in surrounding rural areas and how urban planting affects the regional pollen spectrum. Daily airborne pollen observations were performed with a volumetric Hirst type trap in Moscow (Russia). Modified Tauber traps were located in the Moscow region. The Tauber traps were installed and treated according to Pollen Monitoring Programme (PMP) guidelines. Spearman correlation coefficients were determined between the percentage of total pollen recorded in the Tauber and Hirst type samplers. The data showed that the Tauber spectra are characterised by higher taxonomic variability, mainly due to the greater occurrence of local herbaceous plants. Pollen types registered by Hirst type samplers were predominantly represented by anemophilous arboreal species, used in urban planting. A significant correlation for annual sums was only observed for Betula pollen, the most abundant component in both sampler types. Data obtained in big cities for dominant taxa can be extrapolated to the surrounding rural territories. The simultaneous use of volumetric and gravimetric samplers can be very useful for palaeo-ecological studies to evaluate the presence of local and transported pollen.

Keywords:

• Pollen deposition
• airborne pollen
• Tauber trap
• Hirst type trap
• correlation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (RNF) under Grant 14-50-00029 ‘Scientific basis of the national biobank – depository of the living systems’.