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May the definition of pollen season influence aerobiological results?

“…It ends on the last day when the daily percentage is higher than 1% and the sum of the percentage of this day and the percentages of the two preceding days are higher than or equal to 3%. Giorato et al (2000) Period in which the daily pollen count exceeds 30 p/m 3 for Graminaceae and Urticaceae and 20p/m 3 for other families Sa´nchez Mesa et al (2003) The start and end of the grass pollen season are defined as the first and last day, respectively, when the pollen counts are ‡30 p/m 3 Feher and Ja`rai-Komlo´di (1997) Between the first and last days when a concentration of 3 g/m 3 is consistently exceeded;…”

“…The viability of pollen grains can be altered by the influence of environmental factors, including ultraviolet rays and pollution; many captured pollen grains are unable to fertilize due to changes induced in the atmosphere. The term Effective Pollen Season (Giorato et al, 2000) is somewhat ambiguous: it may denote a period of expected pollen production or of effective pollination; it may even be interpreted as the time during which the pollen count is sufficient to provoke allergy symptoms. Finally, the term Atmospheric Pollen Season is readily understood as the period of time during which pollen is present in the atmosphere, whilst Main Atmospheric Pollen Season could be used to delimit the period during which most pollen is recorded.…”

“…This is particularly likely when the flowering periods of the different species are sufficiently separate in time or when the restrictions of the criteria used split the pollen curve into two Lejoly-Gabriel and Leuschner (1983) 0.473** (55) Gala´n et al (1995) 2002 0.757** (14) Giorato et al (2000) 0.657** (33) Lejoly-Gabriel and Leuschner (1983) Lejoly-Gabriel and Leuschner (1983) 0.807** (157) Ja¨ger et al (1996) )0.426* (146) Gala´n et al (1995) )0.276** (115) Ja¨ger et al (1996) 0.353** (101) Feher and Ja`rai-Komlo´di (1997) n.s 2002 0.297** (45) Gala´n et al (1995) 0.653** (100) Andersen (1991) )0.456* (124) Gala´n et al (1995) n.s 0.371** (56) Giorato et al (2000) n.s 2003 0.443** (85) Andersen (1991) 0.604** (122) Nilsson and Persson (1981) n.s )0.474** (74) Ja¨ger et al (1996) 0.322** (69) Sa´nchez et al (2003) n.s **99%, *95% significance levels. separate seasons.…”

“…Aerobiological studies often use only pollen data from the period over which most of the annual total pollen count is recorded. Various terms are used in the literature to define this period: pollen season, main pollen season or main pollen period (Ma¨kinen, 1977;Nilsson and Persson, 1981), period of maximum pollen production (Gonza´lez et al, 1998;Nitiu, 2003), pollination period, pollination season, main pollination season, principal pollination period (Lejoly-Gabriel and Leuschner, 1983;Ja¨ger et al, 1996;Clot, 1998;Comtois, 1998;Frenguelli et al, 2002;Syrigon et al, 2003), effective pollen season (Giorato et al, 2000) and atmospheric pollen season .…”

“…One of these -widely used in the past and still found today -is the period over which a given percentage of the total annual pollen count is recorded in the atmosphere (Nilsson and Persson, 1981;Andersen 1991;Torben, 1991;Gala´n et al, 1995). Another definition refers to the period between the first and last day with pollen counts higher or lower than a specific level (Davies and Smith, 1973;Giorato et al, 2000;Clot, 2001;Sa´nchez-Mesa et al, 2003).…”