Dispersal and morphology of grass pollen at Schiermonnikoog (The Netherlands)

Abstract

After a theoretical disussion of the various problems connected with a study on the dispersal of grass pollen, a report is given of some experimental investigations on the identification of grass pollen and of the factors influencing its release. It appeared possible to find a rather large number of hitherto not described identification characters in grass pollen when silicone oil was used as an embedding medium instead of a mixture of glycerin and gelatin. Observations on the dispersal of grass pollen on the one side and of microclimatic conditions on the other made clear that sunny and dry weather, and perhaps also the wind, favour a high pollen incidence, whilst the quantity of pollen in the air appeared to be low when the relative humidity and the vapour pressure are reported to be high. It seems probable that the various grass species do not behave in the same way with regard to this factor.