title: Assessing allergenicity in urban parks: A nature-based solution to reduce the impact on public health.
abstract: Urban parks play a key role in the provision of ecosystem services, actively participating in improving the quality of life and welfare of local residents. This paper reports on the application of an index designed to quantify the allergenicity of urban parks in a number of Spanish cities. The index, which records biological and biometric parameters for the tree species growing there, classifies parks in terms of the risk they pose for allergy sufferers, graded as null, low, moderate or high. In this initial phase, the index was applied to 26 green areas in 24 Spanish cities; green areas varied in type (urban park, historical or modern garden, boulevard, square or urban forest), size 1-100 ha), geographical location, species richness, number of trees and tree density (number of trees / ha.). The data obtained were used to calculate the percentage of allergenic species in each park, which varied between 17-67%; density ranged from 100 to 300 trees/ha. The index values recorded ranged from a minimum of .07 to a maximum of .87; a significant correlation was found between index value and both number of trees and tree density. Taking an index value of .30 as the threshold considered sufficient to trigger allergy symptoms in the sensitive population, 12 of the parks studied may be regarded as unhealthy at any time of the year. Corrective measures to mitigate the impact of pollen emissions include the implementation of nature-based solutions at various levels: planning and design, handling and management, and strengthening of urban green-infrastructure elements. The index proved to be a useful tool for environmental analysis, and complies with the principles of portability and scalability central to current and horizon scientific research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Granada, Spain; Andalusian Institute for Earth System Research, IISTA-CEAMA, Granada, Spain. Electronic address: palomacg@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Paloma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cariñanos
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casares-Porcel
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Consuelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Díaz de la Guardia
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany. University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: María Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aira
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra-Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Area of Botany, University of the Balearic Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boi
authors.affiliation: Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain.
authors.forename: Belén
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elvira-Rendueles
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra-Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Linares
authors.affiliation: Department of Construction, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fernández-Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain.
authors.forename: José María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Maya-Manzano
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez-Badía
authors.affiliation: Institute Hispano-Luso of Agricultural Research, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-de la Cruz
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology and Science of Soil, University of Vigo, Orense, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Rajo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rojo-Úbeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology. University of Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romero-Zarco
authors.affiliation: Institute Hispano-Luso of Agricultural Research, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Estefanía
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Reyes
authors.affiliation: Institute Hispano-Luso of Agricultural Research, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tormo-Molina
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity and Environmental Management (Botany), University of Leon, León, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana Mª
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vega Maray
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D044822:Biodiversity; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D011634:Public Health; D013030:Spain; D014197:Trees
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D004785:Environmental Pollutants
keywords: Allergenic flora; Ecosystem disservices; Index of allergenicity; Nature-based solutions; Pollen allergy; Urban Parks