Assessment of allergenic potential in urban forests: A case study of the royal park of portici in Southern Italy

Abstract

In modern cities, the abundance of allergenic plant species has contributed to making less healthy the urban environment, as on-going and direct contact of humans with the urban flora can increase the negative effects on people allergic to pollens. The allergenicity of ornamental species should be considered, and above all quantified, when designing new urban green areas. Numerous studies reported the detailed description of the flora present in cities, but only in some rare cases their allergenic power and related pollen seasons were mentioned. In the present study, starting from the existing data in literature on the vascular flora of the Royal Park of Portici, Southern Italy, tree and shrub species have been classified based on their ability to cause respiratory allergies. Thus, to estimate the allergenic potential of urban green space, two preliminary approaches were defined based on the biological characteristics of the plant species as sources of pollen emissions.