A numerical model of birch pollen emission and dispersion in the atmosphere. Model evaluation and sensitivity analysis.

An evaluation of performance of the System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric coMposition (SILAM) in application to birch pollen dispersion is presented. The system is described in a companion paper whereas the current study evaluates the model sensitivity to details of the pollen emission module parameterisation and to the meteorological input data. The most important parameters are highlighted.

Analysis of airborne betula pollen in Finland; a 31-year perspective.

In this 31-year retrospective study, we examined the influence of meteorology on airborne Betula spp. (birch) pollen concentrations in Turku, Finland. The seasonal incidence of airborne birch pollen in Turku occurred over a brief period each year during spring (April 30 - May 31).

Masting by Betula-species; applying the resource budget model to north European data sets.

Masting, the intermittent production of large crops of flowers by a plant population, is a common feature among trees in boreal and temperate forests. The pollen of many broadleaved trees causes allergic diseases, which are major causes of increasing health-care costs in industrialised countries. As the prevalence and severity of allergic diseases are connected with the concentrations of airborne pollen, an universal model predicting the intensity of the coming flowering would be a valuable tool for pollen information services, and ultimately for allergic people and allergologists.

The host-pathogen system of Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerb.) Morelet and Scots pine; effects of non-pathogenic phyllosphere fungi, acid rain and environmental factors.

Scots pine seedlings (1-yr-old) were inoculated either once, or three times, with the conidia of two saprophytic Honmmema species. After these inoculations, the seedlings were inoculated later with conidia of the pathogenic fungus Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerb.) Morelet.