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Pak. J. Bot., 46(1): 299-306, 2014.

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SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS OF AIRBORNE POLLEN GRAINS COUNT AND ITS CORRELATION WITH CLIMATIC FACTORS FROM KHAIRPUR; SINDH, PAKISTAN

ANJUM PERVEEN^1*, SHAISTA ZEB², MUNEEBA KHAN² AND MUHAMMAD QAISER³

Abstract: This is the first aerobiological survey of Khairpur, Sindh. The survey was conducted from January-December, 2011 using Burkard’s Seven Days Volumetric Spore trap. A total of 4559 pollen/m³ were recorded belonging to 33 plant families and 41 pollen types The major pollen types were Poaceae (13.84%), Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae (10.40%), Cyperus rotundus (7.61%); Prosopis juliflora (6.19%), Brassica campestris (4.91%), Typha angustifolia (4.89%), Tamarix indica (4.43%), Eucalyptus globules  (4.28%), Conocarpus erectus  (3.73%), Asteraceae (3.01%), Guaicum officinale (2.94%), Azadirachta indica (2.74%), Malvaceae (2.15%) and Phoenix dactylifera (1.84%) constituting more than 70% of total pollen catch. The highest pollen grains concentration was observed in May-2011 with 880 pollen/m³ count while second highest pollen concentration was detected in September 2011 with 682 pollen/m³. The lowest count was found in December- 2011.Climatic factors like wind speed, average temperature,humidity and rainfall were correlated with the pollen counts. Different pollen types showed significant positive correlation with average temperature while negative correlation with humidity and wind speed.

¹Centre for Plant Conservation, University of Karachi;

²Department of Botany, University of Karachi; ³University of Karachi

^*Correspondence author e-mail: anjum_tahir@hotmail.com