title: Airborne pollen trends in the Iberian Peninsula.
abstract: Airborne pollen monitoring is an effective tool for studying the reproductive phenology of anemophilous plants, an important bioindicator of plant behavior. Recent decades have revealed a trend towards rising airborne pollen concentrations in Europe, attributing these trends to an increase in anthropogenic CO2 emissions and temperature. However, the lack of water availability in southern Europe may prompt a trend towards lower flowering intensity, especially in herbaceous plants. Here we show variations in flowering intensity by analyzing the Annual Pollen Index (API) of 12 anemophilous taxa across 12 locations in the Iberian Peninsula, over the last two decades, and detecting the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Results revealed differences in the distribution and flowering intensity of anemophilous species. A negative correlation was observed between airborne pollen concentrations and winter averages of the NAO index. This study confirms that changes in rainfall in the Mediterranean region, attributed to climate change, have an important impact on the phenology of plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), Spain. Electronic address: bv1gasoc@uco.es.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galán
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), Spain. Electronic address: bv2altep@uco.es.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alcázar
authors.affiliation: Center of Allergy & Environment (ZAUM), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Technische Universität München, Germany. Electronic address: oterosjose@gmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oteros
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), Spain. Electronic address: bv2gamoh@uco.es.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: García-Mozo
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Electronic address: mariajesus.aira@usc.es.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aira
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jordina.belmonte@uab.cat.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Granada, Spain. Electronic address: cdiaz@ugr.es.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diaz de la Guardia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management (Botany), University of León, Spain; Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: delia.fernandez@unileon.es.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fernández-González
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology II, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: montseg@farm.ucm.es.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Bustillo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Spain. Electronic address: stella.moreno@upct.es.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moreno-Grau
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Castilla la Mancha, Spain. Electronic address: Rosa.Perez@uclm.es.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez-Badía
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences, University of Vigo, Spain. Electronic address: javirajo@uvigo.es.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Rajo
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Jaén, Spain. Electronic address: lvalenzu@ujaen.es.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Valenzuela
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Extremadura, Spain. Electronic address: ratormo@unex.es.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tormo
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Malaga, Spain. Electronic address: aerox@uma.es.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Trigo
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), Spain. Electronic address: edominguez@uco.es.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Domínguez-Vilches
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis; D057231:Climate Change; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe; D011058:Pollen; D011174:Portugal; D012621:Seasons; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000485:Allergens
keywords: Aerobiology; Biological indicators; Climate change; Climate impacts; NAO index; Phenology; Weather