Why does the plant pollen hover in the air so long?
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Abstract
Transporting of plant pollen in our climatic zone (temperate climate) depends mostly on wind. In Poland up to 22% of flowering plants are wind-pollinated. Strong winds and lack of insects in a particular location cause an increase in the number of plants pollinated by wind. This phenomenon was observed i.a. on Halligen islands at the North Sea where wind-pollinated plants comprised as much as 47% of the local flora. Weather conditions, i.e. wind direction and velocity, temperature, insolation, rainfall and air humidity affect greatly the concentration and spreading of plant pollen in the air. The development of anthers in the majority of trees of our climatic zone begins in late summer or autumn a year before flourishing, which means the potential number of pollen grains in a given season is also influenced by meteorological conditions from the previous year. Moreover, if a high variety of plants in a given community is present, flourishing and pollination occur in varying months and varying times of the day. The time of occurrence of both the phenomenons is affected by factors such as: insolation, convection currents, wind and turbulence. Therefore pollen seasons are characterised by such a great variability.
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Address reprint requests to: Medical Education, Marcin Kuźma (marcin.kuzma@mededu.pl)
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