Pollen,women, war and other things: reflections on the history of palynology

The development of palynology since its recognised launch in 1916 by Lennart von Post is examined in terms of its historiography, the biographies of pollen analysts and the role of those who have influenced the discipline. Emphasis is placed upon research beginnings in Scandinavia (especially Sweden), Great Britain and Ireland. Within an analytical narrative which includes archival and published sources, special consideration is given to a ‘proclamation’ on methodology which appeared in 1909, on a supposed geology/botany dichotomy stemming from von Post’s background, on the forgotten early practitioners in Britain and Ireland and their connections, on the role of women up to the end of the Second World War and on issues related to wartime hostilities. Present day palynology can trace a continuity from von Post and palynologists are part of an extended disciplinary genealogy. Ignorance of these can be seen as a loss of heritage and to represent an intellectual impoverishment.     

Four points on Lennart von Post and the invention of “Pollen Statistics”

This essay is a contribution to the historiography of Lennart von Post and the early development of quantitative pollen analysis. Based on von Post’s own publications and source material from the archives of Stockholm University College, where he was appointed professor in 1929, the essay offers four points on von Post’s scientific identity and the collective work through which quantitative pollen analysis, or “pollen statistics”, came into being. The four points are, first, that von Post made his career as a geologist; second, that he framed pollen analysis as a means to tackle Quaternary geological issues; third, that his work benefitted from collective work, both in the field and in the laboratory; and fourth, that quantitative pollen analysis was not accepted without criticism, taking some years to break through beyond the Geological Survey, where von Post worked before he became professor.     

One hundred years of Quaternary pollen analysis 1916–2016

We review the history of Quaternary pollen analysis from 1916 to the present-day, with particular emphasis on methodological and conceptual developments and on the early pioneers of the subject. The history is divided into three phases—the pioneer phase 1916–1950, the building phase 1951–1973, and the mature phase 1974–present-day. We also explore relevant studies prior to Lennart von Post’s seminal lecture in 1916 in Kristiania (Oslo) in an attempt to trace how the idea of Quaternary pollen analysis with quantitative pollen counting and stratigraphical pollen diagrams developed.     

基于文献计量学的近30年(1990-2020)第四纪孢粉学研究现状与展望

第四纪孢粉学利用现代和化石孢粉重建第四纪古植被、古气候和古环境,属于可持续发展的前沿学科领域。本文基于CiteSpace软件数据可视化和计量分析模块,以CNKI (中国知网)数据库与Web of Science核心数据库中1990–2020年间的共计6081篇第四纪孢粉学相关文献为基础,梳理了近30年来第四纪孢粉学的过去和现在,并探讨了未来发展趋势。研究结果表明,近30年第四纪孢粉学领域发文量呈增加趋势,中国的总发文量和国际影响力整体呈增长趋势;第四纪孢粉学研究主要集中于各大高校和科研院所,研究成果有明显的聚集性;中国科学院是外文发文量最多的国际机构。第四纪孢粉学近30年的研究主要涉及古植物学、古地理学、古生态学和古气候学等领域,古植被、古气候、古环境的定性和定量重建一直是国内外学者关注和研究的重点。表土花粉研究、花粉与人类活动、亚洲季风演变和孢粉分类学是近几年发刊的热点。虽然一些关键词如花粉产量、代表性以及现代花粉与植被和气候的定量关系等出现频次低,但对第四纪孢粉学十分重要。未来还需要进一步加强湖泊表层沉积物的花粉研究,探讨花粉与植被、气候的定量关系,为准确解译化石花粉提供坚实基础。...     

中国孢粉学的研究进展与展望

中国古生物学会孢粉学分会今年迎来了学会成立30周年纪念.本文就中国孢粉学的发展历程作了简要的回顾,重点列举中国孢粉学在地层孢粉学、第四纪孢粉学、孢粉形态学和应用孢粉学等方面所取得的成就和研究进展,并对中国孢粉学的今后发展提出展望,呼吁中国孢粉工作者不断开拓,利用当前孢粉学良好的发展机遇,开创新的辉煌.     

Pollen molecular biology: Applications in the forensic palynology and future prospects: A review

Palynology, which is the study of pollen and spores in an archaeological or geological context, has become a well-established research tool leading to many significant scientific developments. The term palynomorph includes pollen of spermatophytes, spores of fungi, ferns, and bryophytes, as well as other organic-walled microfossils, such as dinoflagellates and acritarches. Advances in plant genomics have had a high impact on the field of forensic botany. Forensic palynology has also been used and applied more recently to criminal investigation in a meaningful way. However, the use of pollen DNA profiling in forensic investigations has yet to be applied. There were earlier uses of dust traces in some forensic analyses that considered pollen as a type of botanical dust debris. Pollen grains can be studied for comparative morphological data, clues to unexpected aspects relating to breeding systems, pollination biology and hybridization. This can provide a better understanding of the entire biology of the group under investigation. Forensic palynology refers to the use of pollen and other spores when it is used as evidence in legal cases to resolve criminal issues by proving or disproving relationships between people and crime scenes. This overview describes the various contributions and the significance of palynology, its applications, different recent approaches and how it could be further employed in solving criminal investigations.     

A new look at the acetolysis method

The acetolysis method intreduced byGunnar Erdtman is still a very welcome and highly successful technique in palynology. However, acetolysis destroys all pollen material with the exception of sporopollenin that forms the outer pollen wall, the exine. Modern palynology in its application to plant systematics and phylogeny must consider all sporoderm characters, not only those of the exine. The neglect of the intine may distort some principal palynological aspects. This is illustrated by cases of total breakdown or gross modification of thin exine structures (e.g. inBeilschmiedia, Strelitzia) and by the clarification of apertures (e.g.,Polyalthia, Fissistigma, Calluna). In our view the investigation of both acetolysed and non-acetolysed pollen is obligatory for a well balanced view of pollen structure and function.     

Trajectories of change in Mediterranean Holocene vegetation through classification of pollen data

Quantification of vegetation cover from pollen analysis has been a goal of palynologists since the advent of the method in 1916 by the great Lennart von Post. Pollen-based research projects are becoming increasingly ambitious in scale, and the emergence of spatially extensive open-access datasets, advanced methods and computer power has facilitated sub-continental analysis of Holocene pollen data. This paper presents results of one such study, focussing on the Mediterranean basin. Pollen data from 105 fossil sequences have been extracted from the European Pollen database, harmonised by both taxonomy and chronologies, and subjected to a hierarchical agglomerative clustering method to synthesise the dataset into 16 main groupings. A particular focus of analysis was to describe the common transitions from one group to another to understand pathways of Holocene vegetation change in the Mediterranean. Two pollen-based indices of human impact (OJC: Oleaceae, Juglans, Castanea; API: anthropogenic pollen indicators) have been used to infer the degree of human modification of vegetation within each pollen grouping. Pollen-inferred cluster groups that are interpreted as representing more natural vegetation states show a restricted number of pathways of change. A set of cluster groups were identified that closely resemble anthropogenically-disturbed vegetation, and might be considered anthromes (anthopogenic biomes). These clusters show a very wide set of potential pathways, implying that all potential vegetation communities identified through this analysis have been altered in response to land exploitation and transformation by human societies in combination with other factors, such as climatic change. Future work to explain these ecosystem pathways will require developing complementary datasets from the social sciences and humanities (archaeology and historical sources), along with synthesis of the climatic records from the region.     

M.S. Gilyarov's Scientific School of Soil Zoology

The role of M.S. Gilyarov's scientific school in the development of the subject and methodology of a new complex discipline formed in the mid 20th century—soil zoology—was considered. The establishment and evolution of the proper scientific school was periodized. The creative continuity and development of the basic laws and technical approaches included in the teacher's scientific program was demonstrated by scientific historical analysis.     

Pollen wall development in flowering plants

The outer pollen wall, or exine, is more structurally complex than any other plant cell wall, comprising several distinct layers, each with its own organizational pattern. Since elucidation of the basic events of pollen wall ontogeny using electron microscopy in the 1970s, knowledge of their developmental genetics has increased enormously. However, self-assembly processes that are not under direct genetic control also play an important role in pollen wall patterning. This review integrates ultrastructural and developmental findings with recent models for self-assembly in an attempt to understand the origins of the morphological complexity and diversity that underpin the science of palynology.     

四川雅安地区13种凤仙花属植物花粉形态及其分类学意义

采用扫描电镜观察了中国四川雅安地区13种凤仙花属植物的花粉形态,并对其花粉形态进行了主成分分析和聚类分析,基于孢粉学和SRAP聚类结果的比较,讨论不同孢粉学特征对分类结果的影响。结果显示:(1)雅安地区13种凤仙花属植物花粉粒均为中等大小,花粉粒形状从超扁到扁球形变化,花粉粒极面观形状从矩形和椭圆形到四边形、圆形、三角型变化,且只有湖北凤仙、峨眉凤仙和匙叶凤仙是三沟花粉粒,其余种均为四沟花粉粒;外壁纹饰仅扭萼凤仙和齿萼凤仙为细小网状,其余均为网状纹饰。(2)依据不同指标进行的孢粉学聚类均将13种凤仙花属植物划分为3个类群,而SRAP聚类结果则将13种凤仙花属植物划分为5个类群;不同孢粉学聚类结果的相似率只有30.77%。(3)孢粉学聚类并未与分子聚类显示严格的对应关系,以花粉大小和形状、外壁纹饰为指标进行的孢粉学分类与SRAP分类的相似率最高(69.23%)。研究认为,选择不同的花粉形态特征作指标对分类的准确性影响较大,花粉大小和形状、外壁纹饰这2个指标对凤仙花属植物分类具有意义,而萌发沟的特征则很难作为分类的依据,花粉形态特征在分类上有局限性;进行该属植物孢粉学分类需要选择有价值的分类指标,并结合形态学、分子生物学等综合研究。     

透射电子显微镜(TEM)在孢粉学研究中的应用

透射电子显微镜作为常规的显微镜工具,已被广泛运用于观察研究生物组织超微构造,20世纪60年代开始在生物化石的研究中得到应用,特别是孢粉学,如大孢子、花粉、疑源类等的研究。通过对处理后的化石样品进行超薄切片,可观察到生物组织中保存下来的有机质壁及内含物的显微构造,对孢粉系统分类学及个体发育学的研究有重要的作用。即使是古生代的或更早期的生物样品也有一些保存下来的有价值的组织可供于超微构造的研究,只是样品在进行前期处理及超薄切片过程中会遇到一些技术问题。文章简要阐述这些具体技术问题。     

Who was... Emil von Behring?

Emil von Behring was first in the line of distinguished immunologists to win the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. His contributions to our knowledge of immunity ignited an impassioned argument between French and German scientists at the end of the 19th century, the first of many scientific debates in the immunological world.     

黑龙江省梨栽培品种(系)花粉形态的比较观察

利用扫描电镜和光学显微镜系统观察了黑龙江省梨20个栽培品种(系)花粉粒的形态并进行聚类分析。结果表明：同一品种花粉粒的大小、形态和纹饰特征比较稳定,不同品种间存在差异,杂种后代纹饰的变化,反映出黑龙江省梨品种其血缘关系的多样性,依据纹饰和聚类分析结果是梨品种鉴别的有效方法之一,具有一定的生产实践价值。     

Significance of palynology for phylogeny ofAnnonaceae: Experiments with removal of pollen characters

Phylogenetic analyses based on morphology placeAnaxagorea and other taxa with granular monosulcate pollen, as in otherMagnoliales, at the base ofAnnonaceae. Taxa with columellar tetrads, granular tetrads, and inaperturate monads form a derived clade. To test the systematic importance of palynology, we analyzed the data set with pollen characters removed. The result was lower resolution and a different rooting of the family, betweenUvariopsis and other groups with columellar tetrads.Anaxagorea and other monosulcates are higher in the tree, implying that granular monosulcate pollen, laminar stamens, and irregular endosperm ruminations are reversals. This rooting is highly unparsimonious when pollen characters are included, and only weakly supported over theAnaxagorea rooting when pollen is excluded. Together with preliminary molecular analyses, these experiments confirm the special value of palynology in systematics ofAnnonaceae. This paper is dedicated to emer. Univ.-Prof. DrFriedrich Ehrendorfer on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

安徽景天属12种植物的花粉形态研究

采用光学显微镜及扫描电子显微镜观察了安徽省景天属(Sedum)12种植物的花粉结构。结果表明,景天属是一个很好的自然分类群;其花粉应属较进化的一类;并首次从孢粉学角度证实了江南景天(S.kiangnanense)、凹叶景天(S.emarginatum)同属一个自然分类群(景天属),但又确为二个不同的种。     

On the natural polymorphism of pollen grains of Acer tataricum L.

To study natural polymorphism, pollen grains should be collected from ecologically clean sites. Taking the ecological conditions at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century as more favorable than the modern state, herbarium material (LE) was examined. In addition to typical (normally developed) pollen grains, we found two more morphological types within the range of natural polymorphism of pollen grains of Acer tataricum L. that were produced at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century.     

A Bit of History

Reviews of scientific literature began to appear in the 17th century. Journals dedicated to them soon followed, leading eventually to this one, which emerged in the 1930s as Bacteriological Reviews; it adapted to the many changes in our fluid discipline, evolving into the present, much broader Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.