Celebrating 40 Years of Aerobiologia: Tracing the Evolution and Impact of Aerobiology

The term ‘aerobiology’ was first coined by Fred C. Meier of the United States Department of Agriculture to describe a research project on microbial life in the upper atmosphere. Unfortunately, Meier was lost in a flight over the Pacific Ocean in 1938 when only preliminary abstracts of his work had been published, and so the new discipline was not launched until the American Association for the Advancement of Science eventually published a symposium on Aerobiology in 1942 [1]. The discipline was still relatively young when the journal Aerobiologia was first established in 1985 by the Italian Association for Aerobiology, with Dr Paolo Mandrioli as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief. From humble beginnings Aerobiologia has grown to become a leading international journal in the field of aerobiology, publishing articles related to topics such as airborne pollen, fungal spores, bacteria, and viruses, and their impacts on plant and human health. The discipline of aerobiology can now be considered mature, and Aerobiologia has grown along with it as evidenced by two recent Special Issues in the journal [2, 3]. Technological advancements have meant that we are now moving towards automatic aerobiological monitoring as shown in the Special Issue on the EUMETNET AutoPollen Programme [2]. Another Special Issue focused on the ‘effects of pollution on pollen’ shows how aerobiology is, by nature, related to the One Health concept by examining how anthropogenic actions are altering atmospheric chemistry with subsequent impacts on plants and the health and wellbeing of people [3]. Twenty-first century challenges brought about by increasing global interconnectedness, a growing urban population, emerging contaminants, changes in land use, invasive species and global warming, which alter exposures to hazardous bioaerosols and chemicals, are certain to see aerobiology develop further as a scientific discipline in the future.

References
[1] Moulton, F.R. Aerobiology. 1942. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
[2] Tummon, F. and B. Clot, Editorial: AutoPollen special issue. Aerobiologia, 2024. 40(1): p. 1-2.
[3] Visez, N. and D. Myszkowska, Editorial: Effects of pollution on pollen special issue. Aerobiologia, 2025.