ACTA AGROBOTANICA Vol. 66 (3), 2013: 3–10 Original Research Paper DOI: 10.5586/aa.2013.032 RAGWEED (Ambrosia L.) POLLEN IN AEROPLANKTON OF LUBLIN (POLAND) AND LVIV (UKRAINE) Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko1, Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska2, Kateryna Voloshchuk3, Aneta Sulborska2, Nataliya Kalinovych3, Nataliya Vorobets4 1Department of General Ecology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 15, 20-950 Lublin, Poland 2Department of Botany, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 15, 20-950 Lublin, Poland 3Department of Botany, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, 4, Hrushevsky St., Lviv 79005, Ukraine 4Danylo Halytsky Lviv National University, 79010 Lviv, Ukraine e-mail: [email protected] Received: 15.03.2013 Abstract cies of the genus Ambrosia, whose seeds were brought In Europe Ambrosia is included in invasive species. Its from America with grain shipments, have spread across pollen contains very strong allergens that can be the cause of many countries of Europe. Among them, the follow- pollinosis at the turn of summer and autumn. The aim of the ing are the most frequently found: A. artemisiifolia L., present study was to compare Ambrosia pollen concentrations A. psilostachya DC., and A. tryfida L. [3,4,5,6]. in the air of Lublin and Lviv and to analyse the effect of weather In Poland A. artemisiifolia L. and A. psilo- conditions on Ambrosia pollen content in the air. The study was stachya DC are most often recorded. Their locations carried out in 2011 and 2012. In Lublin the volumetric method are dispersed in different parts of the country [7,8]. was applied using a Lanzoni VPPS 2000 trap, whereas in Lviv In Ukraine A. artemisiifolia L., A. trifida L. and the gravimetric method was applied using a Durham trap. To A. aptera DC. are observed [9]. Species of the genus make the results comparable, the data obtained by the gravime- Ambrosia are annual or perennial anemophilous plants. tric method were properly counted and expressed as the number In Europe they are classified as invasive species [10]. of pollen grains per 1 m3 of air. This research shows that the In Ukraine and Poland Ambrosia is included in the list Ambrosia pollen season started about a month earlier in Lviv and lasted longer than in Lublin. In Lviv ragweed pollen was of quarantine pest plants, in the latter country under recorded from the beginning of July, while in Lublin from the the Regulation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food second week of August. The pollen season in both cities ended Economy of 6 February 1996 regarding the control of on different days of October. The seasonal peaks in both years pest organisms [11]. and the annual pollen count in 2011 were much higher in Lu- In Europe an increasing number of Ambrosia blin than in Lviv. In both cities air temperature was the most locations are recorded and this may result from climate important meteorological factor affecting pollen concentrations. changes and the existence of many areas that promote During the pollen season in Lublin, the wind was predominantly the growth of these plants [3,11,12]. The increasing from NE and E directions, whereas in Lviv from N and SE. pollen concentrations of this taxon in aeroplankton are a real threat to allergy sufferers. Key words: aerobiology, Ambrosia, pollen season, meteoro- The aim of this study was to compare the pat- logical factors, Poland, Ukraine, 2011–2012 tern of daily Ambrosia pollen concentrations in Lublin and Lviv over a period of 2 years and to analyse the correlations between pollen concentration and selected INTRODUCTION meteorological factors. No ragweed sites were found The genus Ambrosia L. (Asteraceae) includes in Lublin and in its vicinity, whereas in Lviv concen- 40 species originally native to North America where it trations of these plants are quite numerous, particularly is a frequent cause of pollen allergy [1,2]. Several spe- along railway tracks and in untidy lawns. © The Author(s) 2013 Published by Polish Botanical Society Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko, Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska, 4 Kateryna Voloshchuk, Aneta Sulborska, Nataliya Kalinovych, Nataliya Vorobets MATERIALS AND METHODS ragweed pollen season was recorded in the second (2012) or third (2011) 10-day period of October. Du- During the period of 2011 and 2012, monito- ring two years of the study, this date was later in Lu- ring of airborne Ambrosia pollen was carried out in blin than in Lviv, on average by 6 days. All the seasons two cities: Lublin (Poland) and Lviv (Ukraine). The di- analysed were right-skewed; the coefficient of skew- stance between these two study sites is about 200 km. ness in Lublin ranged 3.8–4.1 and in Lviv 2.6–3.3. In In Lublin the volumetric method was applied using a 2011 the highest ragweed pollen concentrations were Hirst-type sampler (Lanzoni VPPS 2000) which was recorded on the same day (27 August) at both sites, placed at a height of 18 m on the roof of the building whereas in 2012 the seasonal peak in Lublin was on of the University of Life Sciences in the city centre o o 12 September, but in Lviv high concentrations with (51 14’37’’N; 22 32’25’’E). The research methodolo- a similar value were observed on several dates (19 gy followed the recommendations of the International July, 22 and 26 August, 12 September). Association for Aerobiology [13]. Pollen was counted In both years the maximum pollen concentra- on slides along 4 longitudinal transects with a length tions were much higher in Lublin than in Lviv (Fig. of 48 mm each. 11). On the other hand, the annual pollen counts sho- In Lviv the gravimetric method was applied wed different relations. In 2011 twice more pollen was using a Durham trap which was placed at a height of o o recorded in Lublin than in Lviv, while in 2012 these 10 m in the city centre (49 50’8”N; 24 1’58”E). Pollen values were similar in both cities (Fig. 12). The ana- grains were counted on the entire slide and the total 2 lysis of the pattern of the ragweed pollen seasons in slide area was 11.52 cm . To determine airborne ra- Lublin and Lviv reveals that the pollen concentrations gweed pollen concentrations, the data obtained by the showed either an increasing trend or a decreasing trend gravimetric method were converted using a factor of over the same period. In both years of the study, the 3.2 which was calculated following the guidelines of pollen season both in Lublin and in Lviv was characte- Basett et al. [14]. Similarly as in the case of Lublin, rized by the lack of continuity. Days with the ragweed the obtained results were expressed as the number of 3 3 pollen content in the air were alternated with days on pollen grains per 1 m of air in 24 hours (P/m ). which there was no airborne ragweed pollen. The correlations between pollen concentration The analysis of Spearman’s rank correlations and meteorological factors were analysed for both ci- revealed that air temperature was the most important ties. The following weather data were included in the meteorological factor affecting daily ragweed pollen analysis: temperature (mean, minimum, maximum), concentrations (Table 1). Lviv was shown to have air humidity, wind direction. In Lublin the meteoro- the highest correlation between pollen concentration logical data were obtained from an automatic weather and air temperature, whereas for Lublin the correla- station Vantage Pro 2 located close to the pollen trap, tion coefficients for particular temperatures were at while in Lviv from the website www.meteoprog.ua/ a similar level. Air humidity was also found to have ua/fwarchive/Lviv/. The correlations between airborne a significant effect on ragweed pollen concentration pollen concentration and meteorological factors were in Lviv. In Lublin this correlation was not statistically calculated by Spearman’s rank correlation test. STA- significant. TISTICA ver. 8 and GraphPad Prism 5 software was used for the statistical analysis. Table 1 Spearman’s correlation coefficients between ragweed pollen RESULTS concentration and selected meteorological factors Specimens of Ambrosia artemisiifolia and their for Lublin and Lviv (total for 2011–2012) inflorescences as well as pollen grains were observed Temperature in Lviv (Figs 1–8). The studies show that the Ambro- Site Humidity sia pollen season started about a month earlier in Lviv mean minimum maximum than in Lublin (Figs 9,10). In 2011 and 2012 years Lublin 0.271** 0.273** 0.272** -0.125 ragweed pollen was present in aeroplankton of Lviv from the beginning of July, while in Lublin from the Lviv 0.395** 0.258** 0.445** -0.292** second week of August. In both cities the end of the **p<0.01 © The Author(s) 2013 Published by Polish Botanical Society Ragweed (Ambrosia L.) pollen in aeroplankton of Lublin and Lviv 5 Fig. 1. Specimens of Ambrosia artemisiifolia growing in residential area of Lviv. Fig. 2. Upper parts of an A. artemisiifolia plant with inflorescences. Fig. 3. Anthodium with male flowers at the start of flowering. Fig. 4. Opening male flowers in the anthodium. Fig. 5. Two male flowers dissected from the anthodium. Fig. 6. A. artemisiifolia pollen grains (SEM). Fig. 7. Pollen grain in polar view (LM). Fig. 8. Pollen grain in equatorial view (LM). © The Author(s) 2013 Published by Polish Botanical Society Krystyna Piotrowska-Weryszko, Elżbieta Weryszko-Chmielewska, 8 Kateryna Voloshchuk, Aneta Sulborska, Nataliya Kalinovych, Nataliya Vorobets DISCUSSION in Ambrosia pollen counts over the last 12 lat (2001– 2012) [19]. Because Ambrosia species are controlled The results relating to Ambrosia pollen content as invasive plants, this fact perhaps contributes to the in the air of Lublin and Lviv, presented in this paper, decrease in the number of pollen grains of this pollen show a much lower amount of pollen in Lviv than in in the air of Lublin.