Functional relations of airborne fungi to meteorological and pollution factors in a Mediterranean urban environment

The link between airborne fungal spores and environmental parameters was investigated for 4 years in the city of Athens, Greece. Spearman rank order correlation analysis (rs), stepwise multiple linear regression analysis and Canonical Correspondence Analysis evidenced significant interrelationships between the fungal spore concentration and meteorological factors, and less significance with the air pollutants. Air temperature, solar radiation and wind speed influenced positively (p < 0.01) the total fungal count as well as the genera Cladosporium, Aspergillus and Alternaria, and negatively the genus Penicillium. Relative humidity and atmospheric pressure had negative effects to the prevalent genera except Penicillium. Pollution factors were weakly associated positively with Penicillium and negatively with the other fungal constituents. Regression analysis indicated that air temperature exerted a consistently strong influence and was the single best predictor of the fungal aerosol concentration in the atmosphere.