Identification of airborne pollen grains in Savaştepe (Balıkesir)

Abstract

In this study, pollen concentrations were monitored in the atmosphere of Savastepe (Balikesir) during 2002 by using gravimetric method. 28 taxa and unidentified pollen grains were recorded. From these taxa, 17 of them belong to arboreal plants (AP), 11 to non arboreal plants (NAP). A total of 4750 pollen grains/cm(2) counted in the sampling, of these 4163 pollen/cm(2) pertain to arboreal plants (87.64%), 542 pollen/cm(2) to non arboreal plants (11.41%) and 45 pollen/cm(2) (0.95%) to unidentified. Dominating taxa were: Pinus spp. (58.20%), Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (21.33%), Gramineae (8.19%), Quercus spp. (1.59%), Olea spp. (1.31%), Fraxinus spp. (1.26%) and Abies spp. (1.06%). During the study period, the pollen concentration reached its highest level in April.