Urban allergophytes of central Italy

Abstract

This research was designed to compare\ud allergenic flora of various cities of central Italy.\ud Because the data on this problem are rather scant, we\ud wanted to highlight the relationships among the\ud ecological conditions of the urban habitats, and the\ud plants whose pollens cause allergic manifestations in\ud the human population. Our results pointed out that the\ud structural design of the urban land use types play an\ud important role in the distribution of allergophytes.\ud The compact structure of the historic city center does\ud not impede the establishment of allergophytes. Actually,\ud it promotes some species that come from the dry\ud pastures and rocky walls of the surrounding ecosystems.\ud Allergenicity was revealed throughout the\ud urban area, with a prevalence of species with\ud monoporate pollens characteristic of the Poaceae.\ud Highly allergenic plants are present in the central\ud zone (within the city walls) and in some peripheral\ud land use models (urban road verges). The particular\ud abundance of Urticaceae with small triporate pollen\ud grains and of various cultivated species, introduced\ud by man for aesthetic reasons, contributes to the\ud increase of allergophytism. The study points out the\ud role of the interactions between the allergenic flora,\ud human impact through the land use patterns, urban\ud fauna, and the meso- and microclimatic conditions of\ud the cities studied

Allergenicity of the ornamental urban flora: ecological and aerobiological analyses in Córdoba (Spain) and Ascoli Piceno (Italy)

“…Though not ornamental flora, their allergenic importance is considerable, since local inhabitants are in direct contact with them. The abundance of Platanaceae pollen reflects the widespread use of this family for urban ornamental purposes, while the geographical position of the individual cities accounts for the presence of other pollen types, including Corylaceae (Staffolani and Hruska 2008).…”

“…This is particularly true of allergenic plant species growing in urban areas, since sensitive subjects are in direct contact with their pollen throughout the pollen season (Cariñanos et al 2007). The potential problem posed by plant species growing spontaneously in urban areas is exacerbated by exotic species introduced for ornamental purposes and by the increasing presence of other airborne pollutants and dust, which contribute to allergy symptoms in humans (Popp et al 1992;Arilla et al 2004;Gonzalo-Garijo et al 2006;Staffolani and Hruska 2008).…”

Riqueza y representación taxonómica del género Platanus en Santiago (Chile) basada en procedimiento PCR del gen LFY-i2

“…Este problema es de particular relevancia, pues diversos taxa de Platanus han sido reconocidos como especies alergogénicas (Spieksma et al 1993;Subiza et al 1994;Varela et al 1997), incluyendo las presentes en Chile (Rojas & Roure 2001;Toro et al 2015). Por esta razón, algunos municipios de Santiago han optado por no incluir ejemplares de Platanus en sus programas de arborización (e.g., Providencia), aunque sin evidencia del nivel de alergogenicidad de los distintos taxa de Platanus (Staffolani & Hruska 2008). En esta línea, nuestros resultados constituyen un insumo clave para el presente y futuro manejo de Platanus en Santiago y otras ciudades, ya que permiten establecer el número de taxa presentes y su frecuencia relativa.…”

Assessment of allergenic potential in urban forests: a case study of the Royal Park of Portici in Southern Italy

“…Moreover, the time spent in the urban green spaces can form both emotional and cognitive psychological bonds, which shape our personal memories and therefore our life stories (Calandrelli & Migliozzi 2015); hence, the need to make urban green areas safe and healthy places for citizens. However, the potential threat that some plants can pose to human health is underestimated (Kumer & Piccoli 1985, Cariñanos et al 2017a) and therefore their spread in cities must be kept under control (Staffolani & Hruska 2008, Cariñanos & Casares-Porcel 2011. In urban areas, the number of potentially allergenic plants has grown rapidly as the diversity of plants increased (Thompson & Thompson 2003).…”