Abstract
Urbanization has significantly affected the composition and distribution pattern of plant species within and around cities. Plants with airborne pollens can cause seasonal allergic symptoms that are intensified by increasing air pollution and temperature. In urban landscapes, the reduced native biodiversity, increased exotic biodiversity, and species homogenization may all affect the abundance and distribution of allergenic plants. We investigated the plants with airborne pollens in the Beijing metropolitan region to determine the distribution pattern of allergenic plants as influenced by urbanization. Our results show that native allergenic plants dominated the urban area in the region. The species richness of allergenic plants, particularly the exotic plants with airborne pollens, significantly differed between land use types. The higher the plant diversity in the urban area, the higher the frequency of allergenic plant occurrence. Despite the homogenization of the allergenic plant communities, their characteristic species were still present across the metropolitan region. The flowering allergenic plants also differed between the different land use types. We suggest that some common allergenic plants should be avoided by urban planners, especially those that are exotic to the region. Humans susceptible to pollinosis should stay away from places that are concentrated with allergenic plants, and be aware of the flowering phenology of allergenic plants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angold, P. G., Sadler, J. P., et al. (2006). Biodiversity in urban habitat patches. Science of the Total Environment, 360, 196–204.
Bartra, J., Mullol, J., et al. (2007). Air pollution and allergens. Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 17, 3–8.
Beggs, P. (2004). Impacts of climate change on aeroallergens, past and future. Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 34, 1507–1513.
Benvenuti, S. (2004). Weed dynamics in the Mediterranean urban ecosystem, ecology, biodiversity and management. Weed Research, 44, 341–354.
Caspersen, O. H., & Olafsson, A. S. (2010). Recreational mapping and planning for enlargement of the green structure in greater Copenhagen. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 9, 101–112.
Cornelis, J., & Hermy, M. (2004). Biodiversity relationships in urban and suburban parks in Flanders. Landscape and Urban Planning, 69, 385–401.
Czech, B., Krausman, P. R., et al. (2000). Economic associations among causes of species endangerment in the United States. BioScience, 50, 593–601.
D’Amato, G., Cecchi, L., et al. (2007). Allergenic pollen and pollen allergy in Europe. Allergy, 62, 976–990.
D’Amato, G., & Liccardi, G. (2002). The increasing trend of seasonal respiratory allergy in urban areas. Allergy, 57, 35–36.
D’Amato, G. (2000). Urban air pollution and plant-derived respiratory allergy. Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 30, 628–636.
D’Amato, G. (2002a). Environmental urban factors (air pollution and allergens) and the rising trends in allergic respiratory diseases. Allergy, 57, 30–33.
D’Amato, G. (2002b). Urban air pollution and respiratory allergy. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease, 57, 136–140.
D’Amato, G., Cecchi, L., et al. (2010). Urban air pollution and climate change as environmental risk factors of respiratory allergy, an update. Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 20, 95–102.
D’Amato, G., Liccardi, G., et al. (2001). The role of outdoor air pollution and climatic changes on the rising trends in respiratory allergy. Respiratory Medicine, 9, 606–611.
D’Amato, G., Liccardi, G., et al. (2002). Outdoor air pollution, climatic changes and allergic bronchial asthma. European Respiratory Journal, 20, 763–776.
Emberlin, J. (1998). The effects of air pollution on allergenic plants. European Respiratory Review, 53, 164–167.
Gonzalo-Garijo, M., Tormo-Molina, R., et al. (2006). Differences in the spatial distribution of airborne pollen concentrations at different urban locations within a city. Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, 16, 37.
Hope, D., Gries, C., et al. (2003). Socioeconomics drive urban plant diversity. In Proceedings of the national academy of sciences (Vol. 100, p. 8788).
Ishizaki, T., Koizumi, K., et al. (1987). Studies of prevalence of Japanese cedar pollinosis among the residents in a densely cultivated area. Annals of Allergy, 58, 265–270.
Kinzig, A. P., Warren, P., et al. (2005). The effects of human socioeconomic status and cultural characteristics on urban patterns of biodiversity. Ecology and Society, 10, 23.
Knapp, S., Kuhn, I., et al. (2008). Challenging urban species diversity, contrasting phylogenetic patterns across plant functional groups in Germany. Ecology Letters, 11, 1054–1064.
Knapp, S., Kühn, I., et al. (2010). Changes in the functional composition of a Central European urban flora over three centuries. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 12, 235–244.
Kruskal, W. H., & Wallis, W. A. (1952). Use of ranks in one-criterion variance analysis. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 47, 583–621.
Last, J., & Guidotti, T. (1990). Implications for human health of global ecological changes. Public Health Reviews, 18, 49.
Li, W., Ouyang, Z., et al. (2006). Plant species composition in relation to green cover configuration and function of urban parks in Beijing, China. Ecological Research, 21, 221–237.
Lososová, Z., Chytrý, M., et al. (2006). Patterns of plant traits in annual vegetation of man-made habitats in central Europe. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 8, 69–81.
Mao, Q. (2012). Relationship between plant diversity and soil properties in green spaces of Beijing. Beijing: Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences.
McCune, B., Grace, J. B., et al. (2002). Analysis of ecological communities. Gleneden Beach, OR: MjM Software Design.
McKinney, M. L. (2002). Urbanization, biodiversity, and conservation. BioScience, 52, 883–890.
McKinney, M. (2008). Effects of urbanization on species richness: A review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosystems, 11, 161–176.
McPherson, E. G., Simpson, J. R., et al. (2011). Million trees Los Angeles canopy cover and benefit assessment. Landscape and Urban Planning, 99, 40–50.
Michael, L. M. (2006). Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization. Biological Conservation, 127, 247–260.
Neil, K. L., Landrum, L., et al. (2010). Effects of urbanization on flowering phenology in the metropolitan phoenix region of USA: Findings from herbarium records. Journal of Arid Environments, 74, 440–444.
Nicolaou, N., Siddique, N., et al. (2005). Allergic disease in urban and rural populations, increasing prevalence with increasing urbanization. Allergy, 60, 1357–1360.
Nowak, D. J. (2000). Impact of urban forest management on air pollution and greenhouse gases. In Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters National Convention, pp. 143–148.
Nowak, D. J., & Crane, D. E. (2000). The urban forest effects (UFORE) model: Quantifying urban forest structure and functions. In M. Hansen & T. Burk (Eds.), Integrated tools for natural resources inventories in the 21st century. General technical report NC-212. St. Paul, MN: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station.
Nowak, D. J., & Crane, D. E. (2002). Carbon storage and sequestration by urban trees in the USA. Environmental Pollution, 116, 381–389.
Nowak, D. J., Kurod, M., et al. (2004). Tree mortality rates and tree population projections in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2, 139–147.
Ogihara, H., Yuta, A., et al. (2011). Increased throat symptoms in Japanese cypress pollinosis. Nippon Jibiinkoka Gakkai kaiho, 114, 78.
Olden, J. D., Poff, N. L., et al. (2006). Forecasting faunal and floral homogenization associated with human population geography in North America. Biological Conservation, 127, 261–271.
Oliveira, M., Ribeiro, H., et al. (2009). Seasonal and intradiurnal variation of allergenic fungal spores in urban and rural areas of the North of Portugal. Aerobiologia, 25, 85–98.
Pedrono, G., Grand, C. L. E., et al. (2009). Quantification of short term effects of pollen counts and sentinel botanic garden observations on pollinosis symptoms: A French panel study. Epidemiology, 20, S60.
Qiao, B. (2005). Color atlas of air-borne pollens and plants in China. Beijing: Peking Union Medical College Press.
Regal, P. J. (1982). Pollination by wind and animals, ecology of geographic patterns. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 13, 497–524.
Sattler, T., Duelli, P., et al. (2010). Response of arthropod species richness and functional groups to urban habitat structure and management. Landscape Ecology, 25, 941–954.
Ter Braak, C. J. F. (1987). The analysis of vegetation-environment relationships by canonical correspondence analysis. Plant Ecology, 69, 69–77.
Thomas, C., Bodsworth, E., et al. (2001). Ecological and evolutionary processes at expanding range margins. Nature, 411, 577–581.
Traidl-Hoffmann, C., Kasche, A., et al. (2003). Impact of pollen on human health: More than allergen carriers? International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, 131, 1–13.
Tratalos, J., Fuller, R. A., et al. (2007). Urban form, biodiversity potential and ecosystem services. Landscape and Urban Planning, 83, 308–317.
Walker, J. S., Grimm, N. B., et al. (2009). Effects of urbanization on plant species diversity in central Arizona. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 7, 465–470.
Wang, G., Jiang, G., et al. (2008). Invasion possibility and potential effects of Rhus typhina on Beijing municipality. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 50, 522–530.
Wu, J., Jenerette, G. D., et al. (2011). Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of urbanization: The case of the two fastest growing metropolitan regions in the United States. Ecological Complexity, 8, 1–8.
Zerbe, S., Maurer, U., et al. (2003). Biodiversity in Berlin and its potential for nature conservation. Landscape and Urban Planning, 62, 139–148.
Zhang, X., Friedl, M. A., et al. (2004). Climate controls on vegetation phenological patterns in northern mid- and high latitudes inferred from MODIS data. Global Change Biology, 10, 1133–1145.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the projects entitled “The study about mechanisms of ecosystem pattern, process and the environmental effects in Beijing area (Grant No. SKLURE2008-1-01)” and “the research and demonstration of crucial technology about urban ecological planning and ecological rehabilitation (Grant No. 2007BAC28B018)”, and also thank Kangkang Tong and Sidi Dai who substantially contributed to the completion of the field investigations and experiments.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
See Table 2.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mao, Q., Ma, K., Wu, J. et al. Distribution pattern of allergenic plants in the Beijing metropolitan region. Aerobiologia 29, 217–231 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-012-9275-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-012-9275-x