Incidence of the "Platanus" pollen in the atmosphere of Madrid region (Spain)

The principal aim of this work is to study the aerobiological behaviour of Platanus-type pollen in the Madrid region. We used data were generated by 7 sampling stations of the Regional Aerobiological Network of Madrid (Red Palinocam), all located a short distance from each other. The samplings were carried out over a period of 14 years (1994-2007) using Hirst-type spore traps. Platanus pollen is present in the atmosphere for a short period in late winter-early spring, and its maximum concentrations are detected during the last two weeks of March and the first week of April. Throughout the study period, a greater presence of Platanus pollen was found in Alcala de Henares, Aranjuez, Madrid (University city) and Getafe, localities in which parks and gardens are abundant and plane trees are highly present, compared to the other localities (Alcobendas and Coslada). Significant quantitative variations can be observed, not only between the different sampling sites but also between the different years analysed.