Pollen Traps from the Bladen!

In order for us to determine the impact of past human activity on local vegetation communities, we rely on a range of proxy (or substitute) indicators. The most common of these, fossil pollen and phytoliths (silica bodies found within certain plant cells), can be used to identify changes in vegetation composition over time. However, these records are not without their limitations. For example, the size and shape of pollen grains can affect how far they travel, while a plant’s method of pollination (e.g., wind versus animal dispersal) influences the number of grains it produces.

These distorting factors make it necessary to understand the relationship between different vegetation communities and the pollen assemblages they produce. One of our postdocs, Joe Hirst, is currently investigating this in the forest communities of the Bladen reserve. During last year’s fieldwork, pollen traps were set up across several of our botanical plots to measure the associated pollen rain. Those traps have now returned to the University of Exeter, giving us a first glimpse of the pollen grains they collected. You can see some of them on this page.