Dear Colleagues,

Aeropalynology (the study of airborne pollen and fungal/pteridophyte spore content), despite being a relatively new scientific field, is widespread in the scientific literature thanks to the deployment of numerous monitoring stations worldwide. This has allowed the determination of the aerobiological behaviour of these biotic particles, with researchers undertaking comparative studies among zones with different bioclimatic characteristics. Thus, the possible impact of climate change has been studied by analysing the influence that several meteorological parameters might have on their seasonal and daily patterns. It is also important to assess their implications, together with other atmospheric pollutants, on human health, even taking into consideration possible connections with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic among other factors.

However, most of the research has focused on pollen grains due to their direct implications in environmental allergies. Despite this, in recent years, the demand for knowledge in relation to spores has been increasing as the implications of these particles in allergic and bio-deterioration processes have also been verified; they may even be useful in the prevention of fungal pests in crops and as possible bio-indicators of the phenomenon of climate change. Consequently, the aim of this Special Issue is to present a selection of papers on the current state of the field in relation to fungal (and/or Pterydophyte) spores. Therefore, we invite you to consider submitting your research for publication in this Special Issue of the journal, entitled “Airborne Fungal and Pteridophyte Spores: Outdoor and Indoor Measurements, Effects of Climate Change and Pollution, Impacts on Health and Bio-Deterioration”.

Relevant current issues include indoor and outdoor spore monitoring considering predictive models based on the influence of meteorological parameters and/or air pollutants; their involvement in bio-deterioration processes and environmental allergies.

Dr. Estefanía Sánchez Reyes
Dr. Manuel Joaquim Sabença Feliciano
Dr. José Sánchez-Sánchez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• airborne spore monitoring
• air pollution
• climate change
• bio-deterioration
• environmental allergies