In the present study, the phenological and quantitative changes in the pollen seasons between 1973 and 2013 in the Stockholm region of Sweden were studied for nine types of pollen (hazel, alder, elm, birch, oak, grass, mugwort, willow and pine). Linear regression models were used to estimate the long term trends in duration, start- and end-dates, peak-values and the yearly accumulated pollen sums of the pollen seasons. The pollen seasons of several arboreal plant species (e.g. birch, oak and pine) were found to start significantly earlier today compared to 41 years earlier, and have an earlier peak-date, while the season of other species seemed largely unaffected. However, the long term trends in the end-dates of pollen seasons differed between arboreal and herbaceous species. For herbaceous species (grass and mugwort), a significant change towards later end-dates was observed and the duration of season was found to have increased. A significant trend towards an earlier end-date was found in the majority of the arboreal plant species (i.e. elm, oak, pine and birch), but the length of the season seemed unaffected. A trend towards an increase in yearly concentrations of pollen was observed for several species; however the reasons for this phenomenon cannot be explained unambiguously by the present study design. The trend of increasing yearly mean air temperatures in the Stockholm area may be the reason to changed phenological patterns of pollen seasons.
Notes
Cites: Atmos Environ (1994). 2013 Apr 1;68:64-7323526049
Cites: Environ Monit Assess. 2013 Jan;185(1):877-9022466251
Cites: Int J Biometeorol. 2008 Nov;52(8):841-718751737
Cites: Int J Biometeorol. 2008 Sep;52(7):667-7418481116
Cites: Int J Biometeorol. 2014 Jul;58(5):909-1923793955
Cites: Int J Biometeorol. 2015 May;59(5):517-3125108375
Cites: Sci Total Environ. 2016 Apr 15;550:53-926803684
Cites: Int J Biometeorol. 2014 Oct;58(8):1759-6824402307
Cites: Int J Biometeorol. 2006 Sep;51(1):49-5916832654
Cites: Allergy. 2015 Sep;70(9):1181-326011717
Cites: Thorax. 1996 Jun;51(6):575-818693436
Cites: Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2009 Jun;6(6):1706-2319578456
