Phenology and aerobiology

Aerobiology is the study of organic particles such as bacteria, fungal spores, pollen grains, and viruses, which are passively transported by the air. An important aspect of aerobiology is the timing of the presence of these organic particles in the atmosphere. Focusing on airborne pollen, this chapter explores aerobiological monitoring, data, and networks, climate and weather as drivers of spatial and temporal variations in airborne pollen, the pollen season, the utility of modeling and remote sensing in understanding and forecasting airborne pollen, applications of airborne pollen phenology, and the impacts of climate change on pollen seasons. While each wind-pollinated plant taxa typically releases its pollen into the atmosphere at a particular time each year, there can be significant interannual variability in this timing, and climate change is causing long-term changes in the timing and often increases in the duration of the pollen season. Given the importance of airborne pollen phenology to both natural and human systems, including human health, recent advances in monitoring (automation), remote sensing, and modeling need to be accompanied by significant increases in the geographic coverage of monitoring around the world.