Phenological Behaviour of Early Spring Flowering Trees

This chapter reports the phenological trends (reproductive and vegetative events) of some early spring and late winter flowering trees all around the world and especially Europe: Corylus avellana L. (hazel); Quercus robur L. (common oak); Quercus ilex subsp. ballota, (Desf.) Samp. (holm oak); Betula spp. (birch); Salix alba L. (willow); Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. (ash); and Morus alba L. (white mulberry). They are deciduous and perennial trees growing in different climatic areas of Europe. They have anemophilous pollination liberating huge pollen concentrations to the atmosphere. Aerobiological surveys give us reproductive phenological information of these wind-pollinated species. The phenological response to climate during the last years was analysed, including budburst, leaf unfolding, flowering, fruit ripening, fruit harvesting, leaf colour change, and leaf fall. The response of each taxon to climate was different; most of the revised species and sites presented an advance of the early spring phenophases, especially budburst. On the contrary, some studies detected a delay in autumn vegetative phases, especially leaf fall events. The statistical analyses indicated that phenological advances are a consequence of the increasing temperature trend—minimum temperature being one of the most influential factors. The increase of temperature influenced that leaf unfolding and flowering dates showed a general advance expressed by negative correlations with temperature data, whereas the leaf colour change and leaf- fall presented positive correlations due to the delay of the colder temperatures. The phenological revised results can be considered as reliable and valuable bio-indicators of the impact of the recent climate change in the Northern Hemisphere, and especially Central and Southern Europe

The Use of Geostatistics in the Study of Floral Phenology of Vulpia geniculata (L.) Link

Traditionally phenology studies have been focused on changes through time, but there exist many instances in ecological research where it is necessary to interpolate among spatially stratified samples. The combined use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Geostatistics can be an essential tool for spatial analysis in phenological studies. Geostatistics are a family of statistics that describe correlations through space/time and they can be used for both quantifying spatial correlation and interpolating unsampled points. In the present work, estimations based upon Geostatistics and GIS mapping have enabled the construction of spatial models that reflect phenological evolution of Vulpia geniculata (L.) Link throughout the study area during sampling season. Ten sampling points, scattered troughout the city and low mountains in the “Sierra de Córdoba” were chosen to carry out the weekly phenological monitoring during flowering season. The phenological data were interpolated by applying the traditional geostatitical method of Kriging, which was used to ellaborate weekly estimations of V. geniculata phenology in unsampled areas. Finally, the application of Geostatistics and GIS to create phenological maps could be an essential complement in pollen aerobiological studies, given the increased interest in obtaining automatic aerobiological forecasting maps

Quercus airborne pollen tendencies in the south of Iberian Peninsula, its correlation with meteorological trends and possible effect of the climatic change in Mediterranean forests

Resumen enviado, aceptado y publicado en el libro de resúmenes titulado "Pollen3013. 2nd International APLE APLF Congres", celebrado en septiembre de 2'13 en Madrid.Universidad de Málag

Google trends, una herramienta útil para detectar la presencia de polen atmosférico

Pollinosis is one of the most extended allergies in the world, determining directly the quality of life of the population. Airborne pollen forecasting has become a key objective for allergists and aerobiologists trying to prevent the symptoms of hay fever. Google trends is a tool developed by Google, which provides information about the dynamics of user searches through internet. The main aim of this work is to conduct a preliminary assessment of the usefulness of this tool to detect the presence of large concentrations of pollen in the atmosphere and to explore the impact of pollinosis among the population. To achieve these objectives, the analysis is based on data for olive pollen concentrations in the atmosphere of Cordoba (Spain) and search counts in Google of the words "Allergy", "Pollen" and "Olive". We observed a high correlation and a high geographic relationship between the number of searches for words related to pollen allergy, and the actual concentrations of atmospheric pollen. This tool possesses a great potential in the fight against allergy because it can provide instant and on-line information about symptoms in population, unlike traditional methods that have a mismatch of information. Thus, the present study provides evidence about the potential of Google trends to detect the presence of aeroallergens and to study the impact of pollinosis.La polinosis es una de las alergias más comunes en el mundo, condicionando de manera directa la calidad de vida de la población, siendo la polinosis al olivo una de las más frecuentes en zonas de clima Mediterráneo. La previsión de los niveles de polen en la atmósfera se ha convertido en un objetivo fundamental para alergólogos y aerobiólogos, tratando de prevenir los síntomas de la polinosis. Google trends es una herramienta desarrollada por Google, que nos facilita información acerca de la dinámica de búsquedas de los usuarios a través de internet. Como objetivo principal de este trabajo se pretende realizar un valoración preliminar de la utilidad de esta herramienta para detectar la presencia de polen en la atmósfera y para explorar el impacto de polinosis entre la población. Para alcanzar dichos objetivos se han empleado datos aerobiológicos sobre concentración de polen de olivo en la atmósfera de Córdoba (España) y datos sobre tendencias de búsqueda en el buscador Google de las palabras “Alergia”, “Polen” y “Olivo”. Se ha observado una elevada correlación y relación geográfica entre la tendencia de búsquedas de palabras relacionadas con polinosis y las concentraciones reales de polen atmosférico. Esta herramienta posee una gran potencial en la lucha contra la polinosis, ya que permite conocer información instantánea acerca de los síntomas en la problación, a diferencia de los métodos tradicionales que presentan un desfase de la información. De este modo, el presente trabajo ofrece evidencias acerca del potencial de Google trends para detectar la presencia de aeroalérgenos y para estudiar el impacto de la polinosis

Elaboración de una clave botánica para la identificación de árboles y arbustos

Within the Teaching Innovation Project 2015-2-2003, we developed and published a botanical key for the identification of the trees and shrubs of the Rabanales Campus. This teaching material is being used as a support for laboratory practices and overall on out-of-classroom exits around the Campus, to the field or to urban green spaces. They collect the main woody species (native and cultivated) of the zone. The elaboration of the keys was made based on the form and characteristics of the vegetative organs (leaves, branches and trunk) to facilitate its use at any time of the year. Two versions were developed, one in Spanish and one in English (Key for identifying trees and shrubs) for subjects of the bilingual modules, or for UCO foreign students. These keys are facilitating to the students an autonomous learning in the identification of vegetal species.Dentro del Proyecto de Innovación Docente 2015-2-2003 se elaboraron y publicaron unas claves botánicas de identificación de árboles y arbustos del Campus de Rabanales. Este recurso docente está sirviendo de material de apoyo para las prácticas de laboratorio y las salidas fuera del aula tanto en el Campus, como en campo o en espacios verdes urbanos de la ciudad, ya que recoge las principales especies leñosas (autóctonas y cultivadas) de la zona. La elaboración de las claves se hizo en base a la forma y características de los órganos vegetativos (hojas, ramas y tronco) para facilitar su uso en cualquier época del año. Se elaboraron dos versiones, una en español y otra en inglés (Key for identifying trees and shrubs) para asignaturas de los módulos bilingües, o para los alumnos extranjeros de la UCO. Estas claves están facilitando al alumnado un aprendizaje autónomo en la identificación de especies vegetales

Disentangling the effects of feedback structure and climate on Poaceae annual airborne pollen fluctuations and the possible consequences of climate change

Pollen allergies are the most common form of respiratory allergic disease in Europe. Most studies have emphasized the role of environmental processes, as the drivers of airborne pollen fluctuations, implicitly considering pollen production as a random walk. This work shows that internal self-regulating processes of the plants (negative feedback) should be included in pollen dynamic systems in order to give a better explanation of the observed pollen temporal patterns. This article proposes a novel methodological approach based on dynamic systems to investigate the interaction between feedback structure of plant populations and climate in shaping long-term airborne Poaceae pollen fluctuations and to quantify the effects of climate change on future airborne pollen concentrations. Long-term historical airborne Poaceae pollen data (30 years) from Cordoba city (Southern Spain) were analyzed. A set of models, combining feedback structure, temperature and actual evapotranspiration effects on airborne Poaceae pollen were built and compared, using a model selection approach. Our results highlight the importance of first-order negative feedback and mean annual maximum temperature in driving airborne Poaceae pollen dynamics. The best model was used to predict the effects of climate change under two standardized scenarios representing contrasting temporal patterns of economic development and CO2 emissions. Our results predict an increase in pollen levels in southern Spain by 2070 ranging from 28.5% to 44.3%. The findings from this study provide a greater understanding of airborne pollen dynamics and how climate change might impact the future evolution of airborne Poaceae pollen concentrations and thus the future evolution of related pollen allergies.This work was funded by the Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de la Junta de la Comunidad de Castilla-La Mancha of Spain (POII10-0123-5554), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER (European Regional Development Funds) (project AGL2012-33736), the project FENOCLIM (CGL2011-24146) and a Research Project of Excellence (P10-RNM-5958) from the Andalusia Regional Government. We are grateful to Laboratorio Internacional en Cambio Global (LINCGlobal) for their support and three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments that helped to enhance a previous version of this manuscript. DGL was awarded with a JAE-Predoc-LINC Global scholarship.Peer reviewe

Recursos didácticos para la localización e identificación de musgos y hepáticas en la ciudad de Córdoba

Este proyecto trata de utilizar la ciudad de Córdoba como recurso educativo para la enseñanza del mundo vegetal, en concreto musgos y hepáticas. Se trata de acercar al alumnado estos organismos, que aunque pasan desapercibidos por su pequeño tamaño, están presentes en las ciudades. El objetivo ha sido diseñar rutas que se puedan realizar con alumnado en las que sea frecuente encontrar especies de briofitos y aportarles material para realizar de forma autónoma la identificación de las especies. Se han desarrollado itinerarios por la ciudad de Córdoba y por el Campus Universitario de Rabanales en los que se han añadido con una señal las especies que se pueden encontrar en cada uno de los puntos marcados a lo largo de la ruta, para que el alumnado pueda encontrar las especies sin dificultad. Se ha elaborado también una guía didáctica que incluye una pequeña introducción de los briofitos, una clave dicotómica para la identificación de las especies, utilizado caracteres morfológicos fácilmente observables a simple vista y una guía fotográfica con fotos y descripciones detalladas de las especies de hepáticas y musgos que se han encontrado con frecuencia en la ciudad. El material se ha elaborado en español y en inglés

Platanus pollen season in Andalusia (southern Spain): trends and modeling

Platanus is a major cause of pollen allergy in many Spanish cities. The present paper reports an analysis of Platanus pollen season throughout the Andalusia region (southern Spain), which has among the highest pollen counts and the highest incidence of Platanus-related allergies in Europe. The main aim was to analyze pollen season trends from 1992 to 2010 in Andalusia; models were also constructed to forecast the start of the season. Daily pollen counts were recorded using Hirst-type volumetric sporetraps. Pollen season start-dates were very similar at all sites, usually occurring in March. The pollen season was delayed over the study period. The Pollen-season duration and Pollen index generally increased throughout the study period. The starting date for temperature accumulation was around the 10th February, although the threshold temperatures varied by site. The regional model for Andalusia failed to provide sufficiently accurate results compared with sub-regional or local models. For modeling purposes, three sub-regions are recommended: Inland, East Coast and West Coast