Aerobiology and its significance to biogeography and ecology

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Abstract
Fifty years ago aerobiology concentrated on seasonal diffusion of phytopathic fungus spores and aeroallergens. Subsequently, more divers approaches have been applied to problems with widely different organisms involved in the aerobiological pathway, including bacteria, algae, protozoans, and minute arthropods. Aerobiology is used increasingly to gather bio-geographic and ecological information, much of which is essentia! for conservation and environmental protection programs. Biogeography compiles distribution records of indigenous and invading species initially, but aerosol monitoring is more efficient in detecting changes in range margins, which can be useful proxy indicators of environmental change and spread of species of special concern. Aerobiology's contributions to ecology are numerous and diverse. For example, adaptations of anemophilous flowers for entraining pollen grains within millimeters of stigmas, electrostatic charges given to spores released ballistically, and responses of charged particles to electric fields and charged surfaces in seasonally dry and truly arid environments are studied by aerobiologists. At larger scales, monitoring of spores, pollen, and certain microbiota in aerosols can measure changes in phenology of source populations. Evidence of environmental change is best measured when the sampling time intervals and the data points in a geographic information system net are adjusted to fit the questions being asked. Identifying and tabulating aerosol particles arc made more efficient by automated morphometric classifiction, counting, and size grading. Fluorescent and multi-spectral microscopy will permit more precise identifications.