Alternaria and Cladosporium Spores in the Atmosphere of Konya and Their Relationship with Meteorological Factors

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the meteorological factors (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall) affecting Alternaria and Cladosporium spores in the atmosphere of Konya, Turkey. Materials and Methods: Measurement of Alternaria and Cladosporium spores were carried out between January 1st 2008 and December 31st 2009, with a Burkard Volumetric 7-Days Spore Trap. Microscope counts were converted into atmospheric concentrations and expressed as spore/m3. Results: While Alternaria spores were identified as 424 (19.2%) and 3977 (8.6%) spores/m3; Cladosporium spores were detected as 1784 (80.8%) and 42158 (91.4%) spores/m3 in 2008 and 2009 years, respectively. The daily concentrations of Cladosporium spore in 2008 were positively correlated with daily mean temperature (r= 0.181, p= 0.045), maximum temperature (r= 0.193, p= 0.033) and wind speed (r= 0.242, p= 0.007) and whereas they were negatively correlated with relative humidity (r = -0.215, p = 0.017). The daily concentrations of Alternaria and Cladosporium spore in 2009 were found to be positively correlated with the daily mean temperature (r= 0.44, p< 0.001; r= 0.44, p< 0.001), the minimum temperature (r= 0.46, p< 0.001; r= 0.44, p< 0.001) and the maximum temperature (r= 0.40, p< 0.001; r= 0.43, p< 0.001) whereas they were negatively correlated with the relative humidity (r= -0.29, p< 0.001; r= -0.37, p< 0.001), respectively. Conclusion: These findings showed that the concentrations of Alternaria and Cladosporium spores in Konya were affected from meteorological factors. Cladosporium spores were detected higher than Alternaria spores.