An observation study of airborne pollen fall in Didim (SW Turkey): Years 2004-2005

Abstract

Pollen grains in the atmosphere of Didim, collected using a Durham sampler, were investigated in 2004 and 2005. Weekly pollen grains per square centimetre were calculated. Over a period of 2 years, 17,518 pollen grains/cm(2) belonging to 40 taxa and unidentified pollen grains were recorded. In 2004, 9,879 pollen grains were counted per cm(2), and in 2005 the value was 7,639 per cm(2). The majority of pollen grains investigated were Pinus spp. (45.58%), Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (13.49%), Olea spp. (9.19%), Platanus spp. (7.62%), Gramineae (6.33%), Pistacia spp. (4.34%), Morus spp. (3.81%), Quercus spp. (2.02%), Abies spp. (1.39%), and Plantago spp. (1.11%). During the month of April, 40.46% of total pollen grains were recorded. According to our results, pollen season durations for the dominated pollen grains in Didim were: the 7th-33rd weeks for Pinus spp., nearly the whole year except summer for Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, the 17th-29th weeks for Olea spp., the 10th-24th weeks for Platanus spp., the 8th-46th weeks for Gramineae, the 8th-20th weeks for Pistacia spp., the 11th-21st weeks for Morus spp., the 17th-21st weeks for Quercus spp., the 9th-27th weeks for Abies spp., and the 7th-26th weeks for Plantago spp.