Ragweed (Ambrosia) pollen source inventory for Austria

Abstract

This study improves the spatial coverage of top-down Ambrosia pollen source inventories for Europe by expanding the methodology to Austria, a country that is challenging in terms of topography and the distribution of ragweed plants. The inventory combines annual ragweed pollen counts from 19 pollen-monitoring stations in Austria (2004-2013), 657 geographical observations of Ambrosia plants, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), local knowledge of ragweed ecology and CORINE land cover information from the source area. The highest mean annual ragweed pollen concentrations were generally recorded in the East of Austria where the highest densities of possible growth habitats for Ambrosia were situated. Approximately 99% of all observations of Ambrosia populations were below 745m. The European infection level varies from 0.1% at Freistadt in Northern Austria to 12.8% at Rosalia in Eastern Austria. More top-down Ambrosia pollen source inventories are required for other parts of Europe.

Capsule abstract: A method for constructing top-down pollen source inventories for invasive ragweed plants in Austria, a country that is challenging in terms of topography and ragweed distribution.

Keywords: Aeroallergen; Aerobiology; Atmospheric models; Digital elevation model; Inventories; Ragweed ecology; Ragweed habitats.