Winter Airspora Spectra and Meteorological Conditions in Cape Town, South Africa

Aeropalynological studies have shown a marked increase in recent years due to the many related disciplines that rely on this subject for information. A short analysis of this trend is followed by a presentation of the results of a 5 week survey of the airspora spectrum of an industrial site central to the greater Cape Town region (South Africa), during winter, 1987. The results indicate that fungal spores dominate the airspora spectrum during this period; with basidiospores the most dominant fungal spore and Poaceae the most dominant pollen. Daily volumetric concentrations of pollen and fungal spores are then correlated with several meteorological variables, including wind velocity, temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, atmospheric pressure and sunshine hours. Single and multiple regressional analysis indicates that significant correlations exist between pollen concentrations, temperature, relative humidity, and sunshine hours and between spore concentrations, sunshine hours and wind velocity.