BIOMA Institute leads pollen monitoring in Navarra to adapt the region to climate change

The Biodiversity and Environment Institute BIOMA has been awarded a new contract by the Government of Navarra to continue the daily monitoring of pollen in the atmosphere of the region. This work is part of the efforts to adapt Navarre to climate change, a strategy that began in 2017 when the Foral Government and the Institute of Public and Labor Health of Navarra (ISPLN), together with other entities, obtained the Europeanproject LIFE-NADAPTA, focused on the climate resilience of the territory.

One of the objectives of this project was to improve the knowledge about atmospheric pollen and its evolution. To this end, a network of sensors distributed in different parts of Navarra was created in 2019 to obtain dailydata on the content of pollen and spores in the air. "This information is a core topic for warning the population, especially allergy sufferers, about risk levels, as well as for long-term monitoring of changes in vegetation and pollen behavior," says Arturo H. Ariño, researcher at the BIOMA Institute and manager of the monitoring work in the Navarra network .

Since 2019, the work of the BIOMA Institute consists in the specialized analysis of the samples collected by the collector network , identifying the subject and the amount of pollen present each day. The results are sent to the ISPLN, in charge of disseminating them to the public. In addition, the Institute makes a weekly forecast of the expected pollen levels, taking into account factors such as plant phenology, weather, and patterns observed on previous days.

Thanks to the methods and algorithms developed by the researcher team, it has been possible to elaborate an annual pollen calendar that collects the core topic flowering dates of more than 50 species in Navarra. This tool is essential for planning preventive and sanitary measures, and represents an important contribution to scientific development , providing hundreds of thousands of data after years of monitoring.

The results obtained so far confirm a trend: pollination periods are lengthening and some species are beginning to release pollen earlier than usual."This means an increase in the duration of allergy episodes and greater exhibition for sensitive people," adds Ariño.

Thanks to this project, Navarra not only better protects its allergic population, but also advances in the study of the real impact of climate change on local ecosystems.