Annual variation and impacto of meteorological factor on airborne fungal spore concentractions in La Plata (Argentina): Part II. Moderate types

MALLO, A.C; NITIU, D.S

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 9Th. International Congress on Aerobiology; 2010

International Association Aerobiology

According to their representativeness, there are twelve fungal spores in the atmosphere of La Plata whose concentrations can be considered moderate; each one ranging from 1% to 4.99% of the total record. The aim of this work is to establish the annual variation and incidence of meteorological factors on these bioaerosols. The distribution of spores was studied continously from July 2000 – to June 2001 using a volumetric spore trap.  The Principal Sporulation Period (PSP) was established. The Spearman rank correlation test was used to analyse the effect of meterological factors such as temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind speed. Moderate spore types contribute 24.2% of the total annual concentration. Alternaria, Oidium, Aspergillus / Penicillium, Periconia, and Agrocybe had an annual average ranging between 17.5 to 26 spore, while Artrhinium, Helminthosporium, Pleospora, Myxomycota, Xylariaceae, Peronospora, and Torula varied between 5 to 9,5 spore/m3/day. The highest monthly total concentration occurred in April 2001 with 5768,37 spore, while the lowest ocurrs in September 2000 with 1116,01 spore. The daily spore concentrations exceeded the mean value during 28 % of PSP days. There are seasonal variations during the year, with summer-fall the most rich season in diversity and daily concentrations and a higher contribution of Agrocybe, Alternaria, Arthrinium, and Peronospora. Moreover, Periconia, Pleospora and Xylariaceae display a bimodal spring-autumn pattern. The concentration of Agrocybe, Alternaria, Arthrinium, Helminthosporium, Periconia, and Xylariaceae exhibited positive correlations with temperature. On the contrary, Aspergillus and Pleospora  responded negatively. Moisture affects these spore types in the same way, except for Agrocybe whose response is positive. Negative correlation with precipitations was observed in Myxomycota and wind speed affected Alternaria and Helminthosporium similarly. Torula and Peronospora showed no correlations with the analysed meteorological factors. The moderate spore types registered in the atmosphere of La Plata are present throughout the year. However,  there is a marked seasonality with higher concentrations and diversity in summer-fall;  and there is also a set of spores with a bimodal  spring-autumn pattern .