Login

The air surrounding us forms a major part of the global ecosystem and, depending upon its constituents, it regulates the quality of the environment. It has long been known that there are different types of particles present in the atmosphere. These particles may be biological (for example, pollen grains, fungal spores, viruses, actinomycetes and other bacteria, fern and moss spores, algal colonies, plant fragments, small seeds, protozoa, mites and insect fragments) or non-biological (for example, soot, diesel exhaust particles ashes, sand and mineral fragments such as silicate minerals). Aerobiology is a scientific discipline that deals with the transport of organisms and biologically significant materials through the atmosphere (Isard and Gage, 2001). Aerobiology also encompasses the generation, uptake, translocation, dispersion, viability, deposition and infection/infestation of seeds, viruses, fungi, bacteria and other agents, including insects such as aphids and mosquitoes, which act as virus vectors. Finally, this discipline deals with agriculturally significant insects such as locusts, bush flies and moths.