PREVALENCE OF AIRBORNE POLLEN GRAINS AND FUNGAL SPORES IN A CITY OF THAR DESERT, INDIA

Monitoring of bioaerosols i.e., pollen grains and fungal spores, was undertaken for two consecutive years in a city Thar Desert- Bikaner, using Gravity Slide Method. A total 32 different taxa were identified with Annual Pollen Integral (API) 890 per sq. cm the first year 906 second year. The count non-arboreal plants much more than that arboreal plants. most prominent annual average percentage credited to Poaceae (25.91%), followed by Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae (17.57%), Papilionaceae (7.86%) Cyperaceae (5.95%) among plants: Prosopis juliflora (14.84%) amongst taxa. Two peak seasons observed both February April August October as well spores. types airborne spores reported from atmosphere Bikaner during study. number 6717 counted 7117 commonest encountered species Cladosporium, Alternaria Curvularia mean 24.95%, 23.02% 11.53 respectively.