Annual PAR (pollen accumulation rates; grains cm -2 year -1 ) were studied with modified Tauber traps situated in ten regions, in Poland (Roztocze), the Czech Republic (two regions in Krkonoše, two in Š umava), Switzerland (4 regions in the Alps), and Georgia (Lagodekhi). The time-series are 10-16 years long, all ending in 2007. We calculated correlations between pollen data and climate. Pollen data are PAR summarized per region (4-7 traps selected per region) for each pollen type (9-14 per region) using log-transformed, detrended medians. Climate data are monthly temperature and precipitation measured at nearby stations, and their averages over all possible 2-to 6-month windows falling within the 20-month window ending with August, just prior to the yearly pollen-trap collection. Most PAR/climate relationships were found to differ both among pollen types and among regions, the latter probably due to differences among the study regions in the habitats of plant populations. Results shared by a number of regions can be summarized as follows. Summer warmth was found to enhance Communicated by F. Bittmann.the following year's PAR of Picea, Pinus non-cembra, Larix and Fagus. Cool summers, in contrast, increase the PAR of Abies, Alnus viridis and Gramineae in the following year, while wet summers promote PAR of Quercus and Gramineae. Wetness and warmth in general were found to enhance PAR of Salix. Precipitation was found to be more important for PAR of Alnus glutinosa-type than temperature. Weather did not have an impact on the PAR of Gramineae, and possibly of Cyperaceae in the same year. Care is advised when extrapolating our results to PAR in pollen sequences, because there are large errors associated with PAR from sediments, due to the effects of taphonomy and sedimentation and high uncertainty in dating. In addition, in pollen sequences that have decadal to centennial rather than near-annual resolution, plant-interaction effects may easily out-weigh the weather signal.

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Temperature is the environmental factor that systematically changes for decades and, as in plants and animals, can significantly affect the growth and development of fungi, including the abundance of their sporulation. During the time of study (2010–2012), a rapid increase in air temperature was observed in Poland, which coincided with the substantial decrease in rainfall. The increase in annual mean temperatures at three monitoring sites of this study was 0.9 °C in Lublin and Rzeszow (east Poland) and 2.0 °C in Poznan (west Poland). Such warming of air masses was comparable to the average global air temperature rise in the period of 1880–2012 accounting for 0.85 °C, as reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Moreover, there was a substantial decrease in rainfall, ranging from 32.7 % (Poznan) to 43.0 % (Rzeszow). We have demonstrated that under such conditions the mean and median values of total Cladosporium spore counts significantly increased and the spore seasons were greatly accelerated. Moreover, earlier start and later end of the season caused its extension, lasting from over 20 days in Rzeszow to around 60 days in Lublin and Poznan, when the cumulative amount of 5–95 % of spores was considered. The time of reaching the cumulative amount of 50 % of spores was up to 25 days earlier (difference in Poznan between 2010 and 2012). There was also a striking acceleration of the date of the maximal Cladosporium spore concentration per cubic metre of air (26 days for Lublin, 43 for Poznan and 56 for Rzeszow).

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A b s t r a c tEarly spring flowering plants show large differences in the start dates of pollen emission due to high weather variability in the preceding period. In the present study, the influence of meteorological conditions on the start date of the hazel pollen season in Lublin in the years 2001-2009 was investigated. The aeropalynological study was carried out by the volumetric method using a Lanzoni VPPS 2000 sampler. The start of the hazel pollen season was determined using the 98% method. The differences in particular years of the study were over two months. Hazel pollen grains were recorded earliest in 2007, since from 13 January, and latest in 2003, from 18 March. It was found that accumulated 5-day mean temperature before the season affects the onset of the pollen season. As a result of multiple regression analysis, a statistical model was derived, which shows with great accuracy the relationship of the start of the hazel pollen season with total precipitation and the number of winter days.