Aeropalynology in Britain—an Outline

Abstract

SUMMARYThe author reasserts his original definition of palynology as the study of plant spores and their dispersal and applications thereof, and here considers aeropalynology as that branch of palynology which is concerned with the dissemination of plant spores in both theory and practice. During the present century important advances in methods of sampling atmospheric spores have been made and have been applied at a limited number of locations in England, Wales and Scotland either with a view to assessing the general (outdoor) aerospora of the region concerned or of various special habitats. Variation both 'circadian' and annual in the incidence of various spore types has been studied. The atmospheric transport of microbes (dispersal in the wider sense) which embraces take-ofT (liberation), free flight (dispersion proper) and landing (deposition) has occupied the attention of several workers. Advances have been made also in intramural palynology. The fact that the aerospora is a reflex of the vegetation has been recognized but not worked out in detail despite the abundant data available. Finally the author claims that the many applications of aeropalynology both potential and actual, would amply justify further long-term observation and assessment of the aerospora. INTRODUCTONPalynology was widely defined by the writer (Hyde, 1944;Hyde and Williams, 1945a) as the study of plant spores and their dispersal and applications thereof. It has tended to become limited rather to the study of pollen grains in relation to stratigraphicalespecially quaternary-geology, but the original definition with its wider connotation still stands. The word 'spore' as here understood includes pollen grains, fungus spores and other microscopic plant disseminules such as hyphal fragments (Pady and Gregory, 1963), algal cells (Gregory and Hamilton, 1955) and lichen soredia (Bailey, 1966) but not bacteria. Aeropalynology in practice is mainly concerned with the composition of the aerospora (air-spora, Gregory, 1945Gregory, , 1961 and its variation with time and place both at or near ground level (outdoors and indoors) and up aloft. It embraces the study of aerial dispersal from 'take off' to deposition and therefore impinges both on the physiology of plant reproduction on one hand and on meteorology on the other; and it can contribute significantly to bioclimatology. In so far as it is not pursued for its own sake it is valued chiefly for the sake of its applications in plant pathology (e.g. Hirst, 1959) or medicine (inhalant allergy) (Hyde, 1949(Hyde, , 1969Hyde and Williams, 1961). Both the theory and practice of aeropalynology were summarized authoritatively by P. H. Gregory in his book The Aerobiology of the Atmosphere (1961); and particular aspects of it were dealt with in important chapters by

Aeropalynological Study of Taipei Basin, Taiwan

“…Hyde and Williams have conducted research on the air-borne pollen in Britain from the point of view of allergy since 1933 (Hyde 1969). Gregory has studied air-borne fungus spores in Britain since 1945 (Hyde 1969). Recently, Nilsson et al (1977) reported air-borne pollen grains and spores of 74 species distributed in Northern Europe.…”

“…Other researches on the daily census of air-borne pollen has been reported (Hyde 1952, Deshpande & Chitaley 1976). Hyde and Williams have conducted research on the air-borne pollen in Britain from the point of view of allergy since 1933 (Hyde 1969). Gregory has studied air-borne fungus spores in Britain since 1945 (Hyde 1969).…”

An aerobiological perspective in allergy and asthma

“…Based on the data, Hyde published an atlas of airborne pollen grains of the UK [36-38]. The dominant pollen types recorded from the UK are Alnus , Artemisia , Betula , Corylus , Quercus , Fagus , Pinus , graminae and others [39-41].…”

“…Aerobiological survey in UK was initiated at Cardiff by Hyde and Williams [ 36 ], which was later extended to several other stations in Great Britain. Based on the data, Hyde published an atlas of airborne pollen grains of the UK [ 36 - 38 ]. The dominant pollen types recorded from the UK are Alnus , Artemisia , Betula , Corylus , Quercus , Fagus , Pinus , graminae and others [ 39 - 41 ].…”