Aerobiology and palaeoecology

Summary Aerobiology involves the study of particles present in the air. Of these, palaeoecologists are most interested in pollen and spores, specially those which come to rest on the surface of the ground. Pollen sampling in palaeoecological studies, therefore, uses a pollen trap which is placed at ground level and the sampling period is a whole season or year.Using examples from northern Finland, for each vegetation type sampled, a pollen analogue is obtained which comprises percentage presence and deposition values cm^–2 year^–1 for the pollen types recorded. This analogue is used to interpret pollen assemblages from the past. In general, the tree pollen provides information of the regional situation and the herbaceous pollen of specific local conditions. Both natural and man-made environments are considered. The absolute deposition values are often crucial in distinguishing between two plant communities with otherwise similar percentage pollen values. They can also be used to follow the location of the boundaries between different vegetation types through time. Seasonal records of pollen deposition are sometimes useful in distinguishing the different source of the pollen reaching a specific site. In certain instances, annual pollen deposition values can be employed to estimate the rate of accumulation of a peat deposit. In addition, long series of annual pollen deposition values can be compared with meteorological data for the same period to test for trends and correlations. This, potentially, allows both a more detailed interpretation of past climatic changes and provides a basis for models predicting futures ones.