Airborne ascospores in Tetouan (NW Morocco) and meteorological parameters

摘要

Ascospores are frequently found as airborne fungal spores and recognized in various areas as an important cause of respiratory allergies. The main objective of the study was to determine the relationship between airborne ascospores and meteorological parameters using multivariate canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and Spearman correlation. The aerobiological monitoring of fungal spores was performed over 5 years (2009-2013) using a Burkard volumetric spore traps. Seven main types of ascospores were identified: Leptosphaeria, Pleospora, Venturia, Diatrype, Chaetomium, Sporormiella and Ascobolus. The CCA results showed that all applied variables accounted for 27.4 % of the total variance in the spore data in the 5 years. The largest contribution to the total variance was explained in this period by the maximum air temperature (10.3 %). The effect of meteorological factors varied among years. The highest values of the total variance in the spore data, explained by the statistically significant variables, were observed in 2012 (28.6 %), with the highest contribution to minimum relative humidity (8.0 %). Most ascospores showed positive and statistically significant correlation with relative humidity and rainfall. In contrast, ascospores of Chaetomium were negatively correlated with precipitation and the relative humidity and positively with temperature. Based on these results, epidemiological and allergological studies must deserve more attention to estimate the allergenic potential of the ascospores.