| This PhD presents the aropalynological characterization of the atmospheric aerosol of Cartagena, including both pollen and fungal spores.; The dissertation has been structured within 7 chapters: introduction, objectives, bibliographical resources, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusions. The main aim was to evaluate the presence of airborne pollen and fungal spores in the atmospheric aerosol of Cartagena, in order to establish pollen and spores calendars and to study the effect of local meteorological parameters in their hour, seasonal and year variation. The bibliographical resources deal with an extended revision of the knowledge of this matter all over the different geographical zones in the World.; Two complementary methodologies have been used for the development of this study: an active-impact sampler Hirst type, and a active-filtration sampler patented by Suarez-Cervera and Seoane-Camba. The study was carried out during 6 years. The results are presented by means of Tables and Figures for each pollen taxon or fungal specie. Statistic analyses were carried out using the software package SPSS 9.1 for Windows.; 44 pollen types have been identified in the atmosphere of Cartagena, belonging to 36 different Families, with 14 of them forming the main pollen spectrum in the city, which were included in the pollen calendar. Along the study, the main identified pollen types were: Urticaceae, Cupressaceae, Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, Pinaceae, Oleaceae, Poaceae, Quercus, and Zygophyllum . The highest pollen counts were determined during pre-spring--spring season. During winter time, the predominant pollen was Cupressaceae, and during Autumn, the dominant pollen was Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, reaching 63.7% of total pollen count.; 98 morphologically different fungal spores were identified, belonging to: Deuteromycetes, Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes, Oomycetes, Zygomycetes, and Myxomycetes. A 62 percent of these fungal spores belonged to Deuteromycetes class.; According to these results, the atmospheric aerosol of Cartagena can be identified as typical dry air, being mainly represented by Cladosporium, Alternaria and Ustilago.; The main fungal season was Spring, followed by Autumn because of the presence of spores of Agaricus. The season with the lowest fungal count was Winter. During summer time, the scarce of rainfall and high temperatures, deal with a decrease in total fungal spores.; The results for fungal spores are illustrated with color pictures of 120 cultures of viable isolated fungi, with the use of Suarez-Cervera and Seoane-Camba methodology, and 94 identified spores with the optic microscope and the Hirst sampler.; All this knowledge can be used for the study of allergy, quality control of indoor and outdoor environment, professional diseases, crop prediction, and the study of climate and vegetation changes. |
