Start of the pollen season

Description of the results

Due to the early start of vegetation, the plants are at risk of damage from late frosts. At the colder site of Bruneck/Brunico, a significantly earlier birch pollen flight can be observed. In Bruneck/Brunico, the birch pollen season starts at average 11 days earlier than in 1995, while in Bozen/Bolzano and Schlanders/Silandro no significant trends have yet been observed. In Schlanders/Silandro, Manna Ash and Sweet Chestnut also show no clear trend for an early start of flowering. An early start of the pollen season often leads to earlier and sometimes longer lasting health problems for allergy sufferers.

Method

The day on which the pollen count exceeds 1% of the annual pollen count, provided that the pollen count does not fall to zero for more than six consecutive days, is used to determine the start of the pollen season. A pollen trap is used to determine the pollen count. It is installed, for example, on a roof and sucks in air through a narrow slit using a vacuum pump. The trapped particles adhere to a sticky plastic strip, which is then analysed under a light microscope. The pollen concentration is calculated by multiplying the manually counted pollen values by a factor.

Although pollen counts have started earlier in the year, data from late winter may still be missing. In particular, there has been a shift towards earlier pollen counts in the 1990s. This is not reflected in the data.

Sectors affected

• Agriculture

• Health

Related indicators

Contact

Eurac Research: Nikolaus Obojes, Institute for Alpine Envrionment

Data provided by: Biologisches Labor der Landesagentur für Umwelt und Klimaschutz, Magdalena Widmann