Monitoring ‘Ceratonia siliqua’ L. pollen in Malta

Abstract

Climate change will impact different interconnected global systems; therefore, it is important to monitor indicators of these changes in order to further understand and predict the implications of climate change. Plants being known bioindicators, may phenologically be altered in response to climate change, and thus have been one of the subjects of climate change research. Aerobiology has been a growing interdisciplinary field that may be utilised to monitor the phenological changes in plants in connection to its pollen release. The carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua, being native to the Mediterranean, has certain adaptations that may allow it to be more resistant to changes that will be further exacerbated by climate change. With interests in the species contributing to sustainable development in the region, monitoring its phenological changes would benefit the carob industry. This project investigated the pollen season and concentration of C. siliqua and aimed at contributing to the limited aerobiological research in Malta. This was done through utilising the Burkard trap, alongside passive capturing and ground truthing. The results obtained shows that the carob season for Autumn 2022 in the region was from 2nd of October to the 21st of November. Furthermore, C. siliqua pollen concentrations showed weak correlations with the meteorological parameters, namely mean temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and wind speed. However, long-term data would be required to interpret these correlations as several other factors were not considered. This project can be used as a baseline for future aerobiological research, in order to understand the impact that our changing climate will have on the species.