Pollen-rain-vegetation relationships along a forest-savanna transect in southeastern Cameroon

Modern soil and litter samples from southeastern Cameroon, collected along a continuous forest–savanna transect were analysed for pollen content to define modern pollen–vegetation relationships. The pollen results, completed and compared with botanical inventories, leaf area index and basal area measurements performed in the same area, clearly registered the physiognomy, the main floristic composition and floral richness of the two sampled ecosystems. Distortions were observed between sampled vegetations and their pollen rain, related to important differences in pollen production and dispersal of plant species: this is a general feature in many tropical regions. The pollen data in the area studied reflected well the recent transgression of forest versus savanna. This permitted us to define inside the forest ecosystem more successional vegetation communities than the botanical surveys allowed.     

Modern pollen rain in savanna and forest ecosystems of Gabon and Cameroon,Central Atlantic Africa

Eighty modern soil surface and litter samples from southern Cameroon and Gabon, Central Atlantic Africa (5°N–4°S, 10°–15°W), were analysed for pollen content. The samples are distributed among two main vegetation types: savanna (8 samples) and forest (71 samples). The aim of this study is to provide new data on the modern pollen rain in the Guineo-Congolian phytogeographical region, mainly in forest communities (secondary and mature forests on well drained soils, and hygrophilous forests) and to interpret these data using diagrams of pollen percentages and numerical analyses. The savannas are well identified by high frequencies of non-arboreal pollen with as pollen marker the Poaceae, and the forests by high frequencies of arboreal pollen with as important families the Burseraceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Mimosaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Sapindaceae. Within the forest ecosystem, secondary and mature forests on well drained soils can be differentiated on the basis of distinct assemblages of tree pollen taxa such as Zanthoxylum, Phyllanthus, Tetrorchidium, Margaritaria discoidea in secondary forest spectra and abundance of Burseraceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Sapindaceae in mature forest ones. In addition, hygrophilous forests are well identified by the presence of high pollen contributors such as Uapaca, Nauclea, Macaranga and Raphia. This work shows that the major vegetation communities occurring today in Cameroon and Gabon can be well differentiated by their pollen assemblages.     

A pollen record of a complete glacial cycle from lowland Panama

Abstract. A long pollen record from lowland Panama describes the vegetation during glacial times and probably includes a history of the last 150 000 yr, thus representing a complete glacial cycle. The record is from sediments of an extinct caldera lake under the town of El Valle. Throughout most of the last glacial period oaks and other plants of the modern montane forest maintained significant populations about 700 m lower than present. Immediately before the 14000 B.P. start ofthe late glacial period oaks had reached to 1000 m below present limits. These data require significant temperature depressions, perhaps in the order of 4 - 6 °C at some seasons ofthe year. Lowland forest taxa persisted in the neighbourhood of El Valle throughout the glacial period, however, suggesting reassortment of plant populations into communities without modern analog. Although our reconstruction of levels ofthe El Valle lake in the period 30 000 to 12 000 B.P. suggests less precipitation than in modern times, the lowland climate appears to have been moist enough for taxa of tropical forests to persist. The montane floras of the western and eastern Panama highlands did not merge at any time in the glacial cycle and an hypothesis of dispersal between enlarged areas of montane forest is put forward to explain modern disjunctions in Quer cus distributions. The wet highlands of Panama were never refugia for tropical rain forest taxa at any time during the Quaternary, rather rain forest species existed in unfamiliar communities in the Panamanian lowlands.     

Plant sexual systems and a review of the breeding system studies in the Caatinga, a Brazilian tropical dry forest

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: The reproductive biology of a community can provide answers to questions related to the maintenance of the intraspecific pollen flow and reproductive success of populations, sharing and competition for pollinators and also questions on conservation of natural habitats affected by fragmentation processes. This work presents, for the first time, data on the occurrence and frequency of plant sexual systems for Caatinga communities, and a review of the breeding system studies of Caatinga species. METHODS: The sexual systems of 147 species from 34 families and 91 genera occurring in three Caatinga areas in north-eastern Brazil were analysed and compared with worldwide studies focusing on reproductive biology of different tropical communities. KEY RESULTS: The frequency of hermaphrodite species was 83.0 % (122 species), seven of these (or 4.8 % of the total) being heterostylous. Monoecy occurred in 9.5 % (14) of the species, and andromonoecy in 4.8 % (seven). Only 2.7 % (four) of the species were dioecious. A high percentage of hermaphrodite species was expected and has been reported for other tropical ecosystems. With respect to the breeding system studies with species of the Caatinga, the authors' data for 21 species and an additional 18 species studied by others (n = 39) revealed a high percentage (61.5 %) of obligatory self-incompatibility. Agamospermy was not recorded among the Caatinga studied species. CONCLUSIONS: The plant sexual systems in the Caatinga, despite the semi-arid climate, are similar to other tropical dry and wet forest communities, including those with high rainfall levels, except for the much lower percentage of dioecious species. The high frequency of self-incompatible species is similar to that reported for Savanna areas in Brazil, and also for dry (deciduous and semideciduous) and humid tropical forest communities.     

Danish forest development during the last 3000 years reconstructed from regional pollen data

Most present Danish forest types are a direct result of recent silvicultural practice. We use fossil pollen data converted into estimates of tree abundance to map the development of forest types during the last 3000 radioearbon yr. The forest types were clusters in an artificial neural network based on all available European Holocene pollen data. Diverse deciduous forest types found 3000 yr ago were replaced by less diverse Fagus -dominated types over a period of 2000 yr. The present day map contained many new combinations of tree species, dominated by Picea and Pinus. The association between the increase in non-forest communities and establishment of Fagus suggests that anthropogenic activity has accelerated the loss of species-rich deciduous forest with abundant .Alnus, Corylus, Quercus and Tilia. We conclude that the natural forest composition of Denmark would be deciduous forest today with a significant presence of Fugus sylvatica. Recent forest development has created a break in compositional continuity with the past that is unnatural and has posed problems for forest-dependent biota.     

A survey of modern pollen and vegetation along an altitudinal transect in southern Georgia, Caucasus region

This paper describes the pollen representation of vegetation patterns along an altitudinal transect in the South Caucasus region. Surface sediments from eight small- to medium-sized lakes and wetlands were analysed for modern pollen, and the results analysed numerically using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and dichotomised ordination (TWINSPAN). Pollen spectra from the semidesert region have a clear palynological signal characterised by an abundance of Chenopodiaceae. Differentiation of oak forest, upper tree-line and subalpine communities is more difficult: all are dominated by arboreal pollen (AP) types. The authors propose a number of indicator pollen types and pollen threshold values that may assist in detecting tree-line variations and deforestation events in Holocene pollen diagrams.     

格氏栲林优势种竞争关系及其预测动态的研究

通过野外调查数据,利用Hegyi单木竞争指数模型,定量地分析格氏栲天然林种内和种间竞争强度.结果表明格氏栲种内竞争强度随着胸径的增大而逐渐减少;种内与种间竞争强度的顺序为马尾松-格氏栲(Pinus masoniana-Castanopsiskawakamii)>格氏栲-格氏栲(C. kawakamii-C. kawakamii)>木荷-格氏栲(Schima superba- C.kawakamii)＞杜英-格氏栲(Elaeocarpus decipiens-C.kawakamii)>木姜子-格氏栲(Litsea mollifolia-C. kawakamii)>老鼠矢-格氏栲(Symplocos stellaris-C.kawakamii);种内、种间竞争强度与格氏栲胸径之间存在显著的双曲线非线性回归关系,并利用模型预测了格氏栲种内种间的竞争强度.种内与种间竞争关系的数量研究,不仅拓展格氏栲天然林物种竞争规律的探索,而且为格氏栲林经营管理、保护和合理开发利用提供依据.     

不同群落中四川大头茶（Gordonia acuminata）花粉游离脯氨酸含 …

四川大头茶（Ｇｏｒｄｏｎｉａ ａｃｕｍｉｎａｔａ）是缙云山亚热带常绿阔叶林的优势树种之一,对缙云山３种不同群落中四川大头茶的花粉游离脯氨酸含量和果实的种子产量进行了研究,发现花粉游离脯氨酸含量和每果种子产量在同一群落中的不同龄级四川大头茶个体间没有差异,但在不同群落间表现差异,常绿阔叶林中的四川大头茶个体具有最高的花粉游离脯氨酸含量和每果种子产量,四川大头茶纯林中的次之,针阔混交林中的最低。分析发     

不同群落中四川大头茶 (Gordonia acuminata)花粉游离脯氨酸含量与种子产量

 四川大头茶(Gordonia acuminata)是缙云山亚热带常绿阔叶林的优势树种之一。对缙云山3种不同群落中四川大头茶的花粉游离脯氨酸含量和果实的种子产量进行了研究,发现花粉游离脯氨酸含量和每果种子产量在同一群落中的不同龄级四川大头茶个体间没有差异,但在不同群落间表现出差异。常绿阔叶林中的四川大头茶个体具有最高的花粉游离脯氨酸含量和每果种子产量,四川大头茶纯林中的次之,针阔混交林中的最低。分析发现,四川大头茶花粉游离脯氨酸含量与果实的种子产量有密切的正相关关系,花粉中的游离脯氨酸含量可以作为一种预测和比较相同地区不同生态环境中四川大头茶种子产量的指标。     

How well is current plant trait composition predicted by modern and historical forest spatial configuration?

There is increasing evidence to suggest that a delayed response of many forest species to habitat loss and fragmentation leads to the development of extinction debts and immigration credits in affected forest habitat. These time lags result in plant communities which are not well predicted by present day landscape structure, reducing the accuracy of biodiversity assessments and predictions for future change. Here, species richness data and mean values for five life history characteristics within deciduous broadleaved forest habitat across Great Britain were used to quantify the degree to which aspects of present day forest plant composition are best explained by modern or historical forest patch area. Ancient forest specialist richness, mean rarity and mean seed terminal velocity were not well predicted by modern patch area, implying the existence of a degree of lag in British forest patches. Mean seedbank persistence values were more closely related to modern patch area than historical, particularly in larger patches. The variation in response for different mean trait values suggests that species respond to landscape change at different rates depending upon their combinations of different trait states. Current forest understorey communities are therefore likely to consist of a mixture of declining species whose extinction debt is still to be paid, and faster colonising immigrant species. These results indicate that without management action, rare and threatened species of plant are likely to be lost in the future as a result of changes in forest spatial configuration that have already taken place. The lag seen here for rare specialist plants suggests however that there may still be scope to protect such species before they are lost from forest patches.     

Post-glacial vegetation in the South Patagonian territory of the giant ground sloth, Mylodon

By comparison with the major modern plant communities of southern Patagonia, the changing post-glacial vegetation of the region is reconstructed from macrofossils derived from deposits in the Cueva del Mylodon, Ultima Esperanza, S. Chile. The oldest deposits, carbon-dated as c. 12,400 B.P., comprise dung of the extinct ground sloth Mylodon darwinii and show the animal to have fed entirely on Cyperaceae, Gramineae and species associated with these in the modern cool, wet sedge-grasslands of western Patagonia, communities which would be expected after the retreat of the ice. Overlying deposits of well-preserved, wind-blown leaf-litter permitted some quantitative analyses which show a rise of evergreen forest dominated by Nothofagus betuloides that reached its maximum c. 7000 B.P. and then declined as it was replaced by deciduous N. pumilio forest. A break in the fossil plant record, covering the human occupation about 5643 B.P. and the subsequent final appearance of Mylodon remains, is followed by evidence of mixed evergreen/deciduous forest in which Nothofagus pumilio gradually increases in importance to give deciduous forest some 2500 years ago similar to that found in the environs of the cave in historical times. Comparison with pollen diagrams shows that the modern climatic and vegetation difference between E. Fudgia and Ultima Eeperanza has persisted throughout the post-glacial period.     

择伐对思茅松天然林乔木种间与种内关系的影响

通过分析不同择伐强度下思茅松(Pinus kesiya)天然林乔木种群的生态位、种间联结、种内与种间竞争和群落稳定性, 探讨干扰强度对思茅松天然林乔木种群种间与种内关系的影响。结果表明: (1)择伐干扰改变了大多数乔木树种在群落中的优势地位, 思茅松优势地位未受影响, 随着择伐干扰强度的增加, 思茅松在群落中的生态位宽度逐渐变大, 在重度干扰的群落中与红木荷(Schima wallichii)一起成为生态幅度最大的树种。(2)通过种间联结与生态位重叠分析发现, 随着干扰强度的加剧, 乔木种群的种间关系发生变化, 中度干扰群落中物种之间的生态位重叠明显高于未干扰和重度干扰群落, 而在三类群落中, 思茅松与其他种群之间的重叠值较小。随着干扰强度增加, 种群间正联结与负联结的种对所占的比例逐渐增加。(3) Hegyi竞争指数表明, 三类群落中思茅松种群的竞争压力主要来自种间, 而干扰强度进一步增加了思茅松种群的种间竞争强度, 其种内平均竞争指数随着对象木胸径的增加而减少。(4)林窗是思茅松种群种间和种内关系变化的主要原因, 三类群落都处于较不稳定的阶段, 但中度干扰群落的物种丰富度与稳定性都高于未干扰和重度干扰的群落。择伐原则依据森林管理的目的而确定, 如以木材培育为主或森林生态系统服务功能为主。     

The assembly of forest communities according to maximum species height along resource and disturbance gradients

An ongoing debate in ecology concerns the relative importance of competition in driving community patterns, especially along gradients of disturbance and productivity. We used a null model to address this question by testing for non‐random organization of forest species according to maximum height, a trait associated with competitive ability for light. Specifically, we compared the species present in 409 different temperate forest plots with the pool of potentially present species (n=639 species), spanning a 50 000 km² area of southern Ontario, Canada. In contrast to current theory, coexisting forest species were neither more similar (i.e. convergent), nor more different (i.e. limiting similarity) in maximum height than expected by chance. However, coexisting forest species had larger maximum heights on average, and their maximum heights were more symmetrically distributed than expected by chance, suggesting that competition has reduced the representation of smaller plant species within plots (i.e. higher turn‐over of species with smaller maximum heights among forest plots). We explored the possibility that our findings resulted from smaller species having relatively narrower niches; however, a conclusive test of this explanation will require knowledge of fundamental, rather than realized niche breadth. We also tested the prediction that the influence of competition changes along gradients of productivity and disturbance by examining how the effect size of our null model tests changed along these gradients. We observed that species with smaller maximum heights were increasingly under‐represented in more productive forest communities, suggesting an increased role for competition in determining species membership in more productive communities. In contrast to theory, however, the effect size of our tests did not significantly change along a gradient of forest disturbance. In summary, we found evidence that maximum species height plays a significant role in driving the non‐random organization of plant species among hundreds of mature forest plots, and that this role is more pronounced in more productive forest plots. 1     

南京紫金山山麓湖泊表层沉积物的孢粉分析

本研究对南京紫金山山麓玄武湖和前湖共17个湖泊表层沉积物样品进行孢粉分析,旨在获得花粉组合新数据,揭示湖泊表层花粉与现生植被的关系,为开展第四纪湖泊地层孢粉学研究提供现代过程的参考.研究结果表明,花粉组合在剔除非自然分布的种植木本植物干扰花粉外,主要以木本花粉的松属(Pinus)和栎属(Quercus)占优势,其他常见...     

Pollen analysis of modern tree bark samples from the Manendragarh Forest Range of the Koriya district,Chhattisgarh, India

Pollen from modern tree bark samples collected in the Manendragarh Forest Range, Koriya District, Chhattisgarh, India, was investigated with the objective to understand the pollen rain in and around the study area, using modern tree bark samples as a new tool. The palyno-assemblages revealed the dominance of non-arboreals (herbs) over arboreals (trees and shrubs). Trees constitute an average of 17.23% pollen in the total pollen rain, whereas the average contribution of shrubs is only 0.33%. The non-arboreals have an average of 82.44% pollen in the total pollen rain. This bias in the form of representation of trees and shrubs, despite their ample presence in the forest, could be due to the differences in pollen production, dispersal and preservation of taxa, which depends on plant species and climatic conditions.     

Assembly rules for New England ant assemblages

Community assembly rules specify patterns of species co-occurrence and morphology dictated by interspecific competition. We collected data on the occurrence of ground-foraging ant species in 22 ombrotrophic bogs and adjacent forest plots of New England to test two general assembly rules: reduced co-occurrence of species among communities, and even spacing of body sizes of species within communities. We used null models to generate random communities unstructured by competition and evaluated patterns at regional and local spatial scales. At the regional scale, species co-occurrence in forests, but not bogs, was less than expected by chance, whereas, at the local scale, co-occurrence in both habitats was not different from random. At the regional scale, spacing of body size distributions was random (in bogs) or aggregated (in forests). At the local scale, body size patterns were weakly segregated in bogs, but random or weakly aggregated in forests. In bogs, size ratio constancy was accompanied by greater generic diversity than expected. Although assembly rules were originally developed for vertebrate communities, they successfully explained some patterns in New England ant assemblages. However, the patterns were contingent on spatial scale, and were distinctly different for bog and forest communities, despite their close proximity and the presence of many shared species in both assemblages. The harsh physical conditions of bogs may act as a habitat filter that alters community assembly rules.     

Fine‐scale environmental control of hybridization in oaks

Natural hybridization is attracting much interest in modern speciation and conservation biology studies, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear why environmental changes often increase hybridization rates. To study this question, we surveyed mating events in a mixed oak stand and developed a spatially explicit individual‐based hybridization model. This model, where hybridization is frequency‐dependent, pollen is nonlimiting and which allows immigrant pollen to compete with local pollen, takes into account species‐specific pollen dispersal and sexual barriers to hybridization. The consequences of pollen limitation on hybridization were studied using another simple model. The results indicate that environmental changes could increase hybridization rates through two distinct mechanisms. First, by disrupting the spatial organization of communities, they should decrease the proportion of conspecific pollen available for mating, thus increasing hybridization rates. Second, by decreasing the density of conspecifics, they should increase pollen limitation and thus hybridization rates, as a consequence of chance pollination predominating over deterministic pollen competition. Altogether, our results point to a need for considering hybridization events at the appropriate level of organization and provide new insights into why hybridization rates generally increase in disturbed environments.     

Modern pollen–vegetation relationships along transects on the Whangapoua Estuary, Great Barrier Island, northern New Zealand

Aims To quantify pollen–vegetation relationships from saline to freshwater in an estuarine gradient from surface samples of the modern pollen rain, to allow more accurate interpretations of the stratigraphic palynological record. Location Whangapoua Estuary, Great Barrier Island, northern New Zealand. Methods Six transects were laid out along a vegetation sequence running from estuarine mud to freshwater swamp. Along these transect lines, 108 plots were sampled for vegetation and surface sediments from wet sand, mud, plant litter or moss (sand and mud sites are inundated by most tides, other sites less frequently). All sediment samples were analysed for pollen. The relationships between plant species frequency and pollen representation were examined at a community scale using twinspan and ordination analyses, and for individual species using fidelity and dispersibility indices, regression and box‐plot analyses. Results The quantitative relationships between source taxon vegetation frequency and its pollen representation varied between species due to differential pollen production and dispersal. twinspan of the surface pollen samples suggests five vegetation types: (A) mangrove (Avicennia marina); (C) Leptocarpus similis salt meadow; (D) Baumea sedges; (E) Leptospermum shrubland; and (F) Typha/Cordyline swamp forest. The (B) Juncus kraussii community is not represented palynologically owing to the destruction of its delicate pollen grains during acetolysis of samples. Detrended correspondence analysis places these communities on an estuarine‐to‐freshwater gradient. However, pollen assemblages at the seaward end of the salinity gradient are less clearly representative of the associated vegetation than those at the landward end, probably because the open vegetation at the former allows the influx of wind‐ and water‐dispersed pollen from surrounding vegetation. Main conclusions The vegetation pattern (zonation) at Whangapoua is reflected in the pollen rain. When the long‐distance and over‐represented pollen types are excluded, five out of six of the broad vegetation communities can be identified by their pollen spectra. Species with high fidelity and low‐to‐moderate dispersibility indices can be used to identify the vegetation types in the sedimentary sequences. The more open vegetation types at the ‘marine end’ of the sequence tend to be ‘overwhelmed’ by regional pollen, but the nature of the sediments and the presence of discriminatory species (e.g. A. marina, Plagianthus divaricatus, Cordyline australis), even in small amounts, will allow correct identification of the local vegetation represented in sedimentary palynological sequences. A box‐plot analysis indicates that the pollen and spore types A. marina (mangroves), Sarcocornia quinqueflora (salt meadow), P. divaricatus (sedges), Gleichenia (shrubland) and C. australis (swamp forest) are highly discriminatory in relation to vegetation type. These discriminatory palynomorphs help with the interpretation of stratigraphic pollen studies. However, salt marsh vegetation communities in the sediments must be interpreted with caution as the marine sediments are easily affected by erosion, bioturbation and tidal inundation effects.     

Statistical uncertainty in forest composition estimates obtained from fossil pollen spectra via the R-value model

Estimates of past forest composition obtained from Late Quaternary pollen spectra via a calibration of modern pollen spectra in terms of species abundances are subject to various sources of error, whose combined effect requires statistical analysis. Two statistical procedures, the maximum likelihood method and an approach using series expansions, are used to estimate standard deviations associated with forest composition estimates obtained via the R-value method of calibration. The two approaches yield similar values. The series expansion method also allows one to allocate pollen counting effort between fossil and modern samples in such a way as to maximize the precision of the final estimates. M.B. Davis's original controversial estimates of early Holocene forest composition in Vermont, U.S.A., are shown to have been vitiated by statistical errors. The optimum allocation procedure here suggests increasing the relative effort put into the modern count. This change would have improved but not rescued the estimates; omission of Larix, however, led to a substantial reduction in the errors. Exceptionally poor pollen producers such as Larix should generally be excluded from quantitative calibration; the remaining taxa should be calibrated on the basis of large samples of pollen, the modern pollen being collected preferably from a network of surface sampling sites.     

Biodiversity and pollen analysis: modern pollen studies and the recent history of a floodplain woodland in S. W. Ireland

One of the problems with biodiversity for palynologists is that their samples come from an unbounded area and source area varies with both pollen/spore type and vegetation type. There have been two broad approaches to the problem of inferring diversity from pollen/spore samples; firstly the use of pollen type richness as a proxy for species richness, and secondly the ‘identification’ of past vegetation communities aided by ecological inference and historical or modern data concerning species affinities and typical diversity. The estimation of biodiversity from pollen analysis depends upon the pollen count, taxonomic precision, source strength for individual types and dispersal/transport of pollen from source areas to the site. A transect of surface pollen samples is used here to test the effect of a vegetation boundary on pollen/spore diversity and compare the pollen/spore diversity with the species richness of the woodland. Palynological richness (at a constant count sum) does, to some extent, reflect changing local vegetation along the transect. Type count curves also reflect the changes in vegetation type along the transect due to the partial influence of species richness on pollen/spore richness. This study suggests that depending upon the woodland composition, the woodland may not entirely drown-out the pollen signal of the surrounding vegetation, and that a small woodland may be more representative (as a sampling site) of the valley floor diversity than a raised mire. The surface transect is also used in the interpretation of Medieval pollen levels from The Gearagh.