IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i19p10325-d647408.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earlier Flowering of Betula pendula Roth in Augsburg, Germany, Due to Higher Temperature, NO 2 and Urbanity, and Relationship with Betula spp. Pollen Season

Author

Listed:
  • Franziska Kolek

    (Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
    Faculty of Applied Computer Sciences, Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany)

  • Maria Del Pilar Plaza

    (Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
    Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Environmental Medicine, 86156 Augsburg, Germany)

  • Vivien Leier-Wirtz

    (Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany)

  • Arne Friedmann

    (Faculty of Applied Computer Sciences, Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany)

  • Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann

    (Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
    Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Environmental Medicine, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
    Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education (CK-CARE), 7265 Davos, Switzerland)

  • Athanasios Damialis

    (Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
    Department of Ecology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

Flowering and pollen seasons are sensitive to environmental variability and are considered climate change indicators. However, it has not been concluded to what extent flowering phenology is indeed reflected in airborne pollen season locally. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the commonly represented in temperate climates and with highly allergenic pollen Betula pendula Roth, the responsiveness of flowering to different environmental regimes and also to check for commensurate changes in the respective pollen seasons. The region of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, was initially screened for birch trees, which were geolocated at a radius of 25 km. Random trees across the city were then investigated during three full flowering years, 2015–2017. Flowering observations were made 3–7 times a week, from flower differentiation to flower desiccation, in a total of 43 plant individuals. Data were regressed against meteorological parameters and air pollutant levels in an attempt to identify the driving factors of flowering onset and offset. Flowering dates were compared with dates of the related airborne pollen seasons per taxon; airborne pollen monitoring took place daily using a Hirst-type volumetric sampler. The salient finding was that flowering occurred earlier during warmer years; it also started earlier at locations with higher urbanity, and peaked and ended earlier at sites with higher NO 2 concentrations. Airborne pollen season of Betula spp. frequently did not coincide locally with the flowering period of Betula pendula : while flowering and pollen season were synchronized particularly in their onset, local flowering phenology alone could explain only 57.3% of the pollen season variability. This raises questions about the relationship between flowering times and airborne pollen seasons and on the rather underestimated role of the long-distance transport of pollen.

Suggested Citation

  • Franziska Kolek & Maria Del Pilar Plaza & Vivien Leier-Wirtz & Arne Friedmann & Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann & Athanasios Damialis, 2021. "Earlier Flowering of Betula pendula Roth in Augsburg, Germany, Due to Higher Temperature, NO 2 and Urbanity, and Relationship with Betula spp. Pollen Season," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-17, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10325-:d:647408
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10325/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10325/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Annette Menzel & Peter Fabian, 1999. "Growing season extended in Europe," Nature, Nature, vol. 397(6721), pages 659-659, February.
    2. John Worrall, 1999. "Phenology and the changing seasons," Nature, Nature, vol. 399(6732), pages 101-101, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jose Oteros & Herminia García-Mozo & Roser Botey & Antonio Mestre & Carmen Galán, 2015. "Variations in cereal crop phenology in Spain over the last twenty-six years (1986–2012)," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 545-558, June.
    2. Brice B. Hanberry & Marc D. Abrams & Gregory J. Nowacki, 2024. "Potential Interactions between Climate Change and Land Use for Forest Issues in the Eastern United States," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Jörg Kaduk & Sietse Los, 2011. "Predicting the time of green up in temperate and boreal biomes," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 277-304, August.
    4. Machado, Elia Axinia & Purcell, Helene & Simons, Andrew M. & Swinehart, Stephanie, 2020. "The Quest for Greener Pastures: Evaluating the Livelihoods Impacts of Providing Vegetation Condition Maps to Pastoralists in Eastern Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    5. Czesław Koźmiński & Agnieszka Mąkosza & Jadwiga Nidzgorska-Lencewicz & Bożena Michalska, 2023. "Air Frosts in Poland in the Thermal Growing Season (AT > 5 °C)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Hongyan Cai & Shuwen Zhang & Xiaohuan Yang, 2012. "Forest Dynamics and Their Phenological Response to Climate Warming in the Khingan Mountains, Northeastern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-11, October.
    7. Huicong An & Xiaorong Zhang & Jiaqi Ye, 2024. "Analysis of Vegetation Environmental Stress and the Lag Effect in Countries along the “Six Economic Corridors”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Kamila Veselá & Lucie Severová & Roman Svoboda, 2022. "The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Change on the Production of Grapes in the Czech Republic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, March.
    9. Marco Archetti & Andrew D Richardson & John O'Keefe & Nicolas Delpierre, 2013. "Predicting Climate Change Impacts on the Amount and Duration of Autumn Colors in a New England Forest," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-8, March.
    10. Andrei Lapenis & Hugh Henry & Mathias Vuille & James Mower, 2014. "Climatic factors controlling plant sensitivity to warming," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 723-734, February.
    11. KK Pandey & BVS Sisodia & VN Rai, 2017. "Preliminary Observations on the Behavior ofFeral Chickens (Jungle Fowl) on the Island of Kauai Reflections on Domestication as Complexity," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 4(4), pages 112-116, - Septemb.
    12. Kim, Sohee & Kang, Sinkyu & Lim, Jong-Hwan & Chun, Jung-Hwa & Sung, Joo-Han, 2012. "Regional parameterization of canopy onset models using MODIS and flowering onset data," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 190-198.
    13. Ken Mix & Vicente Lopes & Walter Rast, 2012. "Growing season expansion and related changes in monthly temperature and growing degree days in the Inter-Montane Desert of the San Luis Valley, Colorado," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 723-744, October.
    14. Vanalli, Chiara & Radici, Andrea & Casagrandi, Renato & Gatto, Marino & Bevacqua, Daniele, 2024. "Phenological and epidemiological impacts of climate change on peach production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    15. Viorica GAVRILĂ, 2017. "The Stability of Fruit Production Under the Impact of Climate Factors – Scientific Literature-Based Approaches," Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 267-274.
    16. Georgeta Bandoc & Adrian Piticar & Cristian Patriche & Bogdan Roșca & Elena Dragomir, 2022. "Climate Warming-Induced Changes in Plant Phenology in the Most Important Agricultural Region of Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, February.
    17. Chai, Xi & Shi, Peili & Song, Minghua & Zong, Ning & He, Yongtao & Zhao, Guangshai & Zhang, Xianzhou, 2019. "Carbon flux phenology and net ecosystem productivity simulated by a bioclimatic index in an alpine steppe-meadow on the Tibetan Plateau," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 394(C), pages 66-75.
    18. Russell, Stephen & Barron, Andrew B. & Harris, David, 2013. "Dynamic modelling of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony growth and failure," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 265(C), pages 158-169.
    19. Abelardo García-Martín & Luis L. Paniagua & Francisco J. Moral & Francisco J. Rebollo & María A. Rozas, 2021. "Spatiotemporal Analysis of the Frost Regime in the Iberian Peninsula in the Context of Climate Change (1975–2018)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-22, July.
    20. Ana Márquez & Raimundo Real & Jesús Olivero & Alba Estrada, 2011. "Combining climate with other influential factors for modelling the impact of climate change on species distribution," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 135-157, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10325-:d:647408. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.