Atmospheric pollen grains of Kuşadası were captured using Durham samplers and investigated in 2005. The total number of pollen grains and the pollen grains/cm2 were calculated from slides that were changed weekly. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2013) 37: 297-305 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Airborne pollen content of Kuşadası 1, 2 1 2 Aycan TOSUNOĞLU *, Ayşe YENİGÜN , Adem BIÇAKÇI , Kayı ELİAÇIK Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Uludağ University, Görükle, Bursa, Turkey 2 Division of Paediatric Allergy, Faculty of Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey 1 Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Atmospheric pollen grains of Kuşadası were captured using Durham samplers and investigated in 2005. The total number of pollen grains and the pollen grains/cm2 were calculated from slides that were changed weekly. During the study period a total of 12,980 pollen grains/cm2 belonging to 44 identified taxa and unidentified pollen grains were recorded at 2 stations. At the first station (S1), 7346 pollen grains were counted per cm2, while only 5634 pollen grains were counted at the second station (S2). The majority of the investigated pollen grains were from Olea europaea L. (), Cupressaceae/Taxaceae (), Pinus spp. (), Platanus spp. (), Poaceae (), and Morus spp. (). In addition, of the annual pollen index was captured in May. According to our results, seasonal pollen durations for the predominant pollen grains in Kuşadası were as follows: nearly the whole year for Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, Pinus spp., and Poaceae; March–September (between the 17th and 35th weeks) for Olea europaea; March–May (between the 11th and 21st weeks) for Platanus spp.; and March–April (between the 11th and 17th weeks) for Morus spp. Key words: Pollen, pollen calendar, Kuşadası, Turkey 1. Introduction Bioaerosols may cause a range of health issues in humans and animals, depending on their composition and concentrations in the air. Such effects include mucus membrane irritation, chronic bronchitis, allergic
