Flowering phenology and pollen production in different microclimatic conditions of a city and their influence on Betula spp. and Artemisia spp. pollen season pattern in Poznań

Wydział Biologii: Instytut Biologii Środowiska, Pracownia AeropalinologiiW pracy przeanalizowano uwarunkowania mikroklimatyczne fenologii kwitnienia roślin alergennych Betula pendula i Artemisia vulgaris na terenie miasta Poznania i najbliższych okolic w latach 2012-2014. Ponadto zbadano relacje między emisją ziaren pyłku jednego gatunku brzozy i trzech gatunków bylicy w obszarze badań a ich imisją (stężeniem) notowaną w dwóch punktach pomiarowych w mieście. Wykorzystano dane z posterunków pomiarowych temperatury powietrza, dane satelitarne Landsat i Terra (MODIS), dane fenologiczne oraz produkcji pyłku i liczebności populacji uzyskane w badaniach terenowych i laboratoryjnych, stężenia ziaren pyłku mierzone w dwóch punktach, a także dane użytkowania terenu. W Poznaniu natężenie miejskiej wyspy ciepła w okresie badań wyniosło od 6 do 10°C biorąc pod uwagę dane MODIS. W centrum miasta kwitnienie brzozy następowało średnio 1,4-4,7 dnia wcześniej niż poza nim. Ujawniono silną negatywną zależność między terminami kwitnienia brzozy i bylicy a temperaturą w okresie poprzedzającym kwitnienie oraz powierzchnią dróg. Utworzono mapy fenologiczne oraz modele prognozujące rozkład przestrzenny terminów kwitnienia brzozy brodawkowatej. Wykazano, że gatunki bylic występujące w Poznaniu mają stałą sekwencję kwitnienia, najpierw A. vulgaris, potem A. absinthium i A. campestris. A vulgaris jest odpowiedzialna za dwie trzecie zaś A. campestris i A absinthium za trzecią część ziaren pyłku uwalnianych w obszarze badań. Opracowano także metodę szacowania potencjalnej emisji ziaren pyłku na danym obszarze.Flowering phenology and pollen production of allergenic plants, Betula pendula and Artemisia vulgaris were analyzed in the context of microclimatic diversity of a city and its surroundings in years 2012-2013 in Poznań. Also, the relationship between the potential pollen emission of B. pendula, A. vulgaris, A. absinthium, A. campestris from a study area and the pollen concentration at the trap level was investigated. Following data have been used: air temperature from 7 city stations, Landsat and MODIS data, phenological, pollen production and population density data from field observations, airborne pollen concentration at two sites as well as land-use data. Taking into consideration the MODIS data, the mean intensity of surface urban heat island in Poznań reached 6-10°C in study period. Flowering in the city center began, on average, 1.4 – 4.7 days before the flowering in the outskirts for B. pendula. A significant negative relationship has been revealed between the timing of flowering and land surface temperature as well as road surface. Phenological maps and models have been developed as well. Three Artemisia species showed stable phenological order: A. vulgaris flowered as first, then A. absinthium and A. campestris. A. vulgaris was responsible for the majority of pollen emitted in study area, but A. campestris was also an important pollen contributor. Also, a method for estimating pollen emission from particular area was proposed

Optimization of evapotranspiration models and synoptic conditions of reference evapotranspiration in Poland

Wydział Nauk Geograficznych i GeologicznychEwapotranspiracja jest trudno mierzalnym procesem, który ma kluczowe znaczenie przy szacowaniu bilansu wodnego oraz przy nawadnianiu. W ramach działań Światowej Organizacji na rzecz Wyżywienia i Rolnictwa (FAO) opracowano wzór służący do szacowania ewapotranspiracji wskaźnikowej (ET0), możliwy do zastosowania na całym świecie. W przypadku niedoboru danych meteorologicznych wzór ten nie pozwala jednak na dokładne oszacowanie ET0. Taka sytuacja miała również miejsce na obszarze Polski. W tej pracy dokonano optymalizacji wzoru FAO-56 Penmana-Monteitha (FAO56) do warunków klimatycznych Polski. Wykazano, że możliwe jest dokładne obliczanie ET0 w Polsce w przypadku braku danych promieniowania słonecznego. W pracy zoptymalizowano też m.in. wzór Hargreavesa, który po tym zabiegu pozwala na dokładne szacowanie ET0 tylko na podstawie temperatury. W pracy określono, że antycyklonalne typy cyrkulacji nad NE Polską oraz wyższa od średniej temperatura na powierzchni izobarycznej 850 hPa nad Niemcami są synoptycznymi wskaźnikami wysokiej ET0 w Polsce. Wykazano również wzrost ET0 w latach 1971-2010 co dotyczyło też czynników sprzyjających wysokiej ET0. Zbadano możliwość wykorzystania danych parowania z ewaporometru basenowego (średnica= 5 m, głębokość= 2 m) do określania ET0. Okazało się jednak, że parowanie z tego ewaporometru nie nadaje się do szacowania ET0 w Polsce.Evapotranspiration is a process of a crucial importance in water balance studies and irrigation practices and it is also difficult to be measured. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) experts developed a model for the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) estimation. This model shows reliable results in different places in the world. However, it produces poor results in case of the meteorological data shortages. In this study, the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith (FAO56) model was calibrated for climatic conditions in Poland. Consequently, this calibrated model is able to estimate ET0 reliably in case of the lack of radiation data. Among others, Hargreaves model was also calibrated and now it allows for reliable calculating ET0 in Poland using only temperature data. It was indicated that anticyclonic patterns in NE Poland and higher-than-normal air temperature at 850 hPa over Germany cause extremely high ET0 values in Poland. ET0 and factors that affect ET0 increased in years 1971-2010. Furthermore, pan evaporation data (evaporation pan: diameter= 5 m, depth= 2 m) were tested for using as a predictor for ET0. It was indicated that the data from this evaporation pan are not useful for estimating ET0, probably due to the large size of the pan.Praca została sfinansowana ze środków Narodowego Centrum Nauki przyznanych na podstawie decyzji numer DEC-2011/01/N/ST10/0595

Lidar-Derived Tree Crown Parameters: Are They New Variables Explaining Local Birch (Betula sp.) Pollen Concentrations?

Birch trees are abundant in central and northern Europe and are dominant trees in broadleaved forests. Birches are pioneer trees that produce large quantities of allergenic pollen efficiently dispersed by wind. The pollen load level depends on the sizes and locations of pollen sources, which are important for pollen forecasting models; however, very limited work has been done on this topic in comparison to research on anthropogenic air pollutants. Therefore, we used highly accurate aerial laser scanning (Light Detection and Ranging—LiDAR) data to estimate the size and location of birch pollen sources in 3-dimensional space and to determine their influence on the pollen concentration in Poznań, Poland. LiDAR data were acquired in May 2012. LiDAR point clouds were clipped to birch individuals (mapped in 2012–2014 and in 2019), normalised, filtered, and individual tree crowns higher than 5 m were delineated. Then, the crown surface and volume were calculated and aggregated according to wind direction up to 2 km from the pollen trap. Consistent with LIDAR data, hourly airborne pollen measurements (performed using a Hirst-type, 7-day volumetric trap), wind speed and direction data were obtained in April 2012. We delineated 18,740 birch trees, with an average density of 14.9/0.01 km2, in the study area. The total birch crown surface in the 500–1500 m buffer from the pollen trap was significantly correlated with the pollen concentration aggregated by the wind direction (r = 0.728, p = 0.04). The individual tree crown delineation performed well (r2 ≥ 0.89), but overestimations were observed at high birch densities (> 30 trees/plot). We showed that trees outside forests substantially contribute to the total pollen pool. We suggest that including the vertical dimension and the trees outside the forest in pollen source maps have the potential to improve the quality of pollen forecasting models

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in environmental biology: a review

Acquiring information about the environment is a key step during each study in the field of environmental biology at different levels, from an individual species to community and biome. However, obtaining information about the environment is frequently difficult because of, for example, the phenological timing, spatial distribution of a species or limited accessibility of a particular area for the field survey. Moreover, remote sensing technology, which enables the observation of the Earth’s surface and is currently very common in environmental research, has many limitations such as insufficient spatial, spectral and temporal resolution and a high cost of data acquisition. Since the 1990s, researchers have been exploring the potential of different types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for monitoring Earth’s surface. The present study reviews recent scientific literature dealing with the use of UAV in environmental biology. Amongst numerous papers, short communications and conference abstracts, we selected 110 original studies of how UAVs can be used in environmental biology and which organisms can be studied in this manner. Most of these studies concerned the use of UAV to measure the vegetation parameters such as crown height, volume, number of individuals (14 studies) and quantification of the spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation changes (12 studies). UAVs were also frequently applied to count birds and mammals, especially those living in the water. Generally, the analytical part of the present study was divided into following sections: (1) detecting, assessing and predicting threats on vegetation, (2) measuring the biophysical parameters of vegetation, (3) quantifying the dynamics of changes in plants and habitats and (4) population and behaviour studies of animals. At the end, we also synthesised all the information showing, amongst others, the advances in environmental biology because of UAV application. Considering that 33% of studies found and included in this review were published in 2017 and 2018, it is expected that the number and variety of applications of UAVs in environmental biology will increase in the future

Infestation of the Northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus) with Ixodes ticks in urban ecosystems of the city of Poznań

Between April and November 2009, infestation by Ixodes hexagonus and I. ricinus ticks on the northern white-breasted hedgehog, Erinaceus roumanicus, was investigated in urban environments of the city of Poznań. In total, 49 hedgehogs were trapped, 36 (73.5%) of which hosted 1,519 ixodid ticks, with a mean intensity of 42.2 ticks per infested animal. The most abundant tick species, I. hexagonus, constituted 67% (1,019) of all ticks recorded and infested 71.4% of the hosts. I. ricinus accounted for 33% (500) of all ticks recorded, and was identified on 51% of the hedgehogs. Mean intensities of ticks were higher for I. hexagonus than for I. ricinus (29.1 and 20.0, respectively). The proportion of the two tick species differed by life stage. I. hexagonus larvae (n = 744) strongly dominated over nymphs (n = 204) and females (n = 71). In contrast, similar proportions of three stages of I. ricinus were recorded (168 larvae, 194 nymphs, 138 females). Both tick species parasitizing hedgehogs showed seasonal differences in tick burdens and prevalences. The data obtained in this survey demonstrate that E. roumanicus hedgehogs hosting all developmental stages of Ixodes, contribute to the local amplifying and maintenance of tick populations within urban environments

Current and future potential distributions of three Dracaena Vand. ex L. species under two contrasting climate change scenarios in Africa

Forest undergrowth plants are tightly connected with the shady and humid conditions that occur under the canopy of tropical forests. However, projected climatic changes, such as decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature, negatively affect understory environments by promoting light‐demanding and drought‐tolerant species. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the influence of climate change on the spatial distribution of three selected forest undergrowth plants, Dracaena Vand. ex L. species, D. afromontana Mildbr., D. camerooniana Baker, and D. surculosa Lindl., simultaneously creating the most comprehensive location database for these species to date. A total of 1,223 herbarium records originating from tropical Africa and derived from 93 herbarium collections worldwide have been gathered, validated, and entered into a database. Species‐specific Maxent species distribution models (SDMs) based on 11 bioclimatic variables from the WorldClim database were developed for the species. HadGEM2‐ES projections of bioclimatic variables in two contrasting representative concentration pathways (RCPs), RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, were used to quantify the changes in future potential species distribution. D. afromontana is mostly sensitive to temperature in the wettest month, and its potential geographical range is predicted to decrease (up to −63.7% at RCP8.5). Optimum conditions for D. camerooniana are low diurnal temperature range (6–8°C) and precipitation in the wettest season exceeding 750 mm. The extent of this species will also decrease, but not as drastically as that of D. afromontana. D. surculosa prefers high precipitation in the coldest months. Its potential habitat area is predicted to increase in the future and to expand toward the east. This study developed SDMs and estimated current and future (year 2050) potential distributions of the forest undergrowth Dracaena species. D. afromontana, naturally associated with mountainous plant communities, was the most sensitive to predicted climate warming. In contrast, D. surculosa was predicted to extend its geographical range, regardless of the climate change scenario

Dracaena_locations_GIS_format

GIS layers in shapefile format showing locations of three examined Dracaena species: Dracaena afromontana, Dracaena cameroonaina and Dracaena surculos

Dracaena coordinates

Dracaena species coordinates used in Maxent model. Coordinates for Dracaena afromontana, Dracaena camerooniana, Dracaena surculos

Co-exposure to highly allergenic airborne pollen and fungal spores in Europe

The study is aimed at determining the potential spatiotemporal risk of the co-occurrence of airborne pollen and fungal spores high concentrations in different bio-climatic zones in Europe. Birch, grass, mugwort, ragweed, olive pollen and Alternaria and Cladosporium fungal spores were investigated at 16 sites in Europe, in 2005–2019. In Central and northern Europe, pollen and fungal spore seasons mainly overlap in June and July, while in South Europe, the highest pollen concentrations occur frequently outside of the spore seasons. In the coldest climate, no allergy thresholds were exceeded simultaneously by two spore or pollen taxa, while in the warmest climate most of the days with at least two pollen taxa exceeding threshold values were observed. The annual air temperature amplitude seems to be the main bioclimatic factor influencing the accumulation of days in which Alternaria and Cladosporium spores simultaneously exceed allergy thresholds. The phenomenon of co-occurrence of airborne allergen concentrations gets increasingly common in Europe and is proposed to be present on other continents, especially in temperate climate