Preliminary study of the atmospheric pollen in Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park (Southern Spain)

Sierra de las Nieves is a Natural Park and a Biosphere Reserve located in Southern Spain. This protected area has a high diversity of ecosystems with abundant endangered species which has led to be proposed as a National Park. In January 2018, a pollen trap was installed inside this Natural Park in order to determine the atmospheric pollen behaviour of the main taxa registered during a whole year. Additionally, the results were compared with those registered in the urban and rural stations of Malaga and Ronda, respectively, during the same period. The samplings were made by means of a Hirst-type volumetric pollen trap, and the samples obtained were mounted and counted according to the methodology proposed by the Spanish Aerobiology Network. The highest amount and diversity of atmospheric pollen in the Natural Park was detected during the spring months. Statistical significant differences were found, regarding daily total pollen concentrations, between Sierra de las Nieves (Natural Park) and Malaga (urban city), and between Ronda (rural city) and Malaga. These differences were particularly detected for some pollen types such as Quercus. In general, the start of the main pollen season and the maximum concentration peak of the major pollen types occurred later in Sierra de las Nieves than in Ronda and Malaga. The qualitative and quantitative differences between Sierra de las Nieves and the others nearby locations can be explained by the differences in land use, altitude, climatic characteristics, as well as the distance between the aerobiological stations and the pollen emission sources.