STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF 3 YEARS OF POLLEN SAMPLING IN CARTAGENA, SPAIN

Monitoring of airborne pollen grains in Cartagena (Spain) has been car ried out over a period of three years from 18 March 1993 to 18 March 1 996 using a volumetric capture device (Hirst Sampler, Lanzoni VPPS-200 0). A total of 59877 grains/m(3) belonging to 44 taxa were observed. T he Urticaceae are the most common group, with altogether 18479 grains/ m(3). Other frequent taxa were Chenopodiaceae Amaranthaceae, Cupressac eae, Olea, Quercus, Pinaceae, Poaceae, Plantago, Platanus, Zygophyllum and Arecaceae. The weekly average was 384 grains/m(3), with a maximum value of 2104 grains/m(3) during the month of May and a minimum value of 21 grains/m(3) during the month of October. The total and individu al pollen concentration has been decreasing over these three years, pr obably due to the severe drought in the region. In 1996, the total pol len amount was 46% less than in 1993. A negative correlation was found between the total pollen content and rainfall. humidity and air press ure, and a positive one with sunshine. According to multiple regressio n analysis, 22% of the pollen concentration can be correlated with met eorological parameters.