title: Is long range transport of pollen in the NW Mediterranean basin influenced by Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns?
abstract: Climatic oscillations triggered by the atmospheric modes of the Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns have an important influence on the atmospheric circulation at synoptic scale in Western Mediterranean Basin. Simultaneously, this climate variability could affect a variety of ecological processes. This work provides a first assessment of the effect of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO) on the atmospheric long-range pollen transport episodes in the North-Eastern Iberian Peninsula for the period 1994-2011. Alnus, Ambrosia, Betula, Corylus and Fagus have been selected as allergenic pollen taxa with potential long-range transport associated to the Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns in the Western Mediterranean Basin. The results showed an increase of long range pollen transport episodes of: (1) Alnus, Corylus and Fagus from Western and Central Europe during the negative phase of annual NAO and AO; (2) Ambrosia, Betula and Fagus from Europe during the negative phase of winter WeMO; (3) Corylus and Fagus from Mediterranean area during the positive phase of the annual AO; and (4) Ambrosia from France and Northern Europe during the positive phase of winter WeMO. Conversely, the positive phase of annual NAO and AO are linked with the regional transport of Alnus, Betula and Corylus from Western Iberian Peninsula. The positive phase of annual WeMO was also positively correlated with regional transport of Corylus from this area.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C/Urgell 187, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: rebeca.izquierdo@upc.edu.
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C/Urgell 187, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alarcon
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C/Urgell 187, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Periago
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciencia i Tecnología Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Edifici C, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain; Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Edifici C, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belmonte
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005602:France; D011058:Pollen; D012621:Seasons; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000485:Allergens