A year-round study on functional relationships of airborne fungi with meteorological factors

Air sampling was conducted in Waterloo, Canada throughout 1992. Functional relationships between aeromycota and meteorological factors were analysed. The meteorological factors were, in descending order of importance: mean temperature, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, mean wind speed, relative humidity (RH), rain, maximum wind speed and snow. The most important airborne fungal propagules in descending order were total fungal spores, unidentified Ascomycetes, Cladosporium, Coprinus, unidentified Basidiomycetes, Alternaria and unidentified fungi. Most airborne fungal taxa and highly significant relationship with temperature, but Aspergillus/Penicillium, hyphal fragments were positively associated with wind speed. In comparison with other airborne fungal taxa, Leptosphaeria and unidentified Ascomycetes were more closely correlated with rain and RH during the growing season.