Impact of Local Grasslands on Wild Grass Pollen Emission in Bavaria, Germany
Stephan Jung,
Ye Yuan,
Maria Stange Del Carpio,
Thomas Pawlik,
Stephan Hartmann,
Nicole Estrella,
Jose Oteros,
Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann,
Athanasios Damialis,
Jeroen Buters,
Annette Menzel
Affiliations
Stephan Jung
TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecoclimatology, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Ye Yuan
TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecoclimatology, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Maria Stange Del Carpio
TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecoclimatology, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Thomas Pawlik
Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL), Institute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding, 85354 Freising, Germany
Stephan Hartmann
Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL), Institute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding, 85354 Freising, Germany
Nicole Estrella
TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecoclimatology, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Jose Oteros
Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba (UCO), 14071 Cordova, Spain
Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann
Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Athanasios Damialis
Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Jeroen Buters
ZAUM-Center of Allergy & Environment, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Technical University of Munich/Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, 80802 Munich, Germany
Annette Menzel
TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecoclimatology, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
Meteorological conditions and the distribution of pollen sources are the two most decisive factors influencing the concentration of airborne grass pollen. However, knowledge about land-use types, their potential pollen emission, and the importance of local sources remains limited. In this study, wild grass pollen concentrations from 27 stations in Bavaria, Germany, were linked to potential pollen within a 30 km radius. Agricultural grass pollen sources were derived from the InVeKos database, which contains detailed information on agricultural land-use types and their spatial distribution. Non-agricultural grassland was identified by OpenStreetMap. Further source classification was conducted using a cultivation intensity indicator and wind direction. We show that the grassland percentage and pollen concentrations, specified as annual pollen integral and pollen peak vary strongly between pollen stations. Correlation analyses indicated that the impact of the grassland on pollen concentration was greater within 10 km of the pollen traps. At greater distances, the correlation coefficient between the grassland percentage and pollen indicators steadily declined.
