Air-Borne Fungi in the Arctic and Other Parts of Canada

Abstract

Quantitative and qualitative studies were made of the fungi in the air over various parts of Canada and Alaska, continuing studies in arctic aerobiology. In winter, arctic air is apparently sterile: in summer, at Ft. Churchill, Man., ground level samples varied from 0.5 to 4.4 per cu. ft. Cladosporium was the commonest fungus (average 0.5 per cu. ft.), followed by yeasts (0.16), Penicillium (0.06), and Stemphylium (0.03 per cu. ft.). Other fungi present were Pullularia, Botrytis, Aspergillus, Verticillium, Pyrenochaete, Helminthosporium, Phyllosticta, Papularia, Cunninghamella, and Sporormia. Of 3711 colonies 57% failed to sporulate. Silicone slide readings as high as 114.9 fungus spores per cu. ft. were obtained and included the following: yeasts (8.6), Cladosporium (3.8), smuts (2.5), Fusarium (0.6), Alternaria (0.06 per cu. ft.), Venturia, Cercospora, Septoria, rusts, Leptosphaeria, Sordaria, and Pleospora and many hyaline one-celled spores. In two flights to Resolute Bay, N.W.T., the flora was found to be similar to that at Ft. Churchill but numbers did not exceed 1 per cu. ft., although readings up to 78 fungus spores per cu. ft. were recorded on slides in warm air over Hudson Bay. Most of the fungi are considered to be soil types originating in agricultural areas and carried northward by southerly winds. The majority are no longer viable when they reach the arctic. There is evidence that the numbers of fungi are correlated with air masses, not only in the arctic but also in air over other parts of Canada.

Culturable Microorganisms of Aerosols Sampled during Aircraft Sounding of the Atmosphere over the Russian Arctic Seas

“…The first microbiological studies in the Russian Arctic were carried out in areas adjacent to the mainland and islands-in the shelf part of the Arctic seas or on the continental slope-and were published back in 1914 [1]. Studies of microorganisms began to cover not only terrestrial, but also aquatic samples [2], as well as samples of Arctic atmospheric air obtained using aircrafts [3][4][5] in the mid-20th century.…”

Spore Concentrations in the Atmosphere at Ahmadi, a New Town in Kuwait

“…Pady & Kapica (1953) and Polunin (1955) have examined air samples from Arctic regions. The content of the air at Tucson, in the shrub and cactus-covered landscape of the Sonoran desert of Arizona has been briefly described by Dworin (1967).…”

“…reported by Pady & Kapica (1953) during the summer sampling at Churchill in the Arctic. At Churchill the tundra contributes to the air spora, in Kuwait, even when temperatures are inimical to the growth of Cladosporium, its spores may become airborne from fragments of vegetation and even whole plants uprooted and blown about the desert by the wind.…”

Airborne Yeasts From Horticultural Sites

“…Icrarner and coworl;ers, in the course of extensive studies in aeromicrobiolog)~ in Icansas, counted them in certain samplings (5); they gave details of variations in the daily and monthly average nuinber of airborne yeasts over a 2-year period and listed yeasts as the thii-d largest group of airborne fungi (8.4%) found a t a height of 150 ft over Manhattail, I<ansas. These workers also trapped yeasts from some 11011-arctic areas of Canada (4) and sampled air over the Canadian Arctic (13) and the Atlantic Ocean (14). Saccharowzyces cultures have been obtained from air over Nashville, Tenn. (16), and C r y p t ococcz~s and Debaryomyces from air a t Dunedin, N.Z.…”