The effect of meteorological factors on the daily variation of airborne fungal spores in Granada (southern Spain)

A study was made of the link between climatic factors and the daily content of certain fungal spores in the atmosphere of the city of Granada in 1994. Sampling was carried out with a Burkard 7-day-recording spore trap. The sp ores analysed corresponded to the taxa Alternaria, Ustilago and Cladosporiu m, with two morphologically different spore types in the latter genus, clad osporioides and herbarum. These spores were selected both for their allerge nic capacity and for the high level of their presence in the atmosphere, pa rticularly during the spring and autumn. The spores of Cladosporium were th e most abundant (93.82% of the total spores identified). The Spearman corre lation coefficients between the spore concentrations studied and the meteor ological parameters show different indices depending on the taxon being ana lysed. Alternaria and Cladosporium are significantly correlated with temper ature and hours of sunlight, while Ustilago shows positive correlation indi ces with relative humidity and negative indices with wind speed.