Modeling Olive Crop Yield in Andalusia, Spain

Abstract

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Microclimatic-induced fluctuations in the flower and pollen production rate of olive trees (Olea europaeaL.)

“…Other species of the Oleaceae family, such as Fraxinus excelsior L. or F. angustifolia Vahl., also show variable quantities of pollen production per anther with 12500 grains for the former (Pohl, 1937) and 18 000-87 000 for the latter (Tormo Molina et al, 1996). In line with the data provided by Fornaciari et al (1997), Gómez-Casero et al (2004) or Galán et al (2008), our records confirm that temperature and precipitation are the variables, which mostly affect the pollen production of olive trees. According to our data, high values of maximum and minimum temperatures recorded during the pre-flowering months correlate inversely to the average production of pollen per anther.…”

“…The formation and maturation of pollen grains inside the anther is probably conditioned by genetic (Kaul, 1988) and environmental (García-Mozo et al, 2001) factors. Moreover, pollen production does indeed depend on the meteorological conditions during the preflowering period (Fornaciari et al, 1997;Galán et al, 2008), with temperature and precipitation, among other meteorological factors, playing a fundamental role in the process.…”

“…Studies on olive and grape, carried out in different Mediterranean countries, have demonstrated a correlation between the quantity of pollen released during flowering and fruit production (Holm, 1994;Fornaciari et al, 1998;Orlandi et al, 2005). Furthermore, this knowledge can be used to help establish an airborne forecasting system (González-Minero et al, 1998;Galán et al, 2008).…”

Comparison of phenological, aerobiological and melissopalynological patterns of Olea europaea

“…Meiffren (1988) and Fornaciari et al (2000) have reported the ability of olea pollen to travel over middle and long distances. Indeed, the start and end date as well as the peak day of the pollen season can be influenced by the long-range transport phenomena of olive pollen from neighbour regions (Vázquez et al, 2003;Galan et al, 2004;Galán et al, 2008). Thus, several authors point out that phenological data should also be obtained in order to specify the aerobiological pollen season with respect to the local flowering in a more accurate way (Fornaciari et al, 2000;Garcıa-Mozo et al, 2009;Jato et al, 2006).…”

“…Recently, a number of studies have also used airborne pollen data as an indicator of climatic change or to create forecasting models for agricultural applications (Frenguelli, 1998;Newnham, 1999;Osborne et al, 2000;Emberlin et al, 2002;Van Vliet et al, 2002;Clot, 2003;Orlandi et al, 2005;Ribeiro et al, 2006;Galán et al, 2008;García-Mozo et al, 2008).…”