Changes in atmospheric spore content: Diurnal periodicity and the effects of weather

Dry Liberation of Fungus Spores by Raindrops

“…Published reports mention Cladosporium sp. (Ainsworth, 1952 ;Gregory, 1954;Hirst, 1953Hirst, ,1959Rich & Waggoner, 1962), Ustilago nuda (Sreeramulu, 1962), Pithomyces chartarum (Meredith, 1962). Similar increases can accompany watering in glasshouses (Hirst, 1959).…”

The Air Spora of a Cowshed

“…old country mansion with large fruiting bodies on Merulius lacrymans a short distance from the trap. The normal level of spores in the outdoor air at 2 m. above the ground level rarely rises above 100,000 spores/m.s (Hirst, 1953), although Sreeramulu (1958) reported over a million spores/m3. The daily off-peak average spore content recorded in our observations was 95,000/m.S; and very large day-today fluctuations were found amongst the individual spore types.…”

“…Comparison with the figures of Hirst (1953) shows that Cladosporium spores are only likely to be found in low numbers by the end of October.…”

“…The rate of flow was adjusted to approximately 10.0 l./min. and keyed 'Vaseline '-coated slides were used for the trace (Hirst, 1953). The slide moved a t 2 mm./hr.…”

“…After mounting in ' Solvar '-1actophenol scanning was carried out by means of short or cross traverses (Hirst, 1953). At certain periods of the day so many spores were being caught that the deposit was too thick for scanning, and these periods were therefore sampled separately on 18 December by using 0.5-2-5 min.…”