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Mangrove palynology, vegetation history and past biogeography
Mangrove pollen key
Sonneratia fossil pollen records
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Miocene mangrove pollen records beyond extant range in China
Miocene pollen in SE China
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Pollen morphology of Fagaceae and identification keys
Fagaceae consists of dominant arboreal community in temperate and subtropical north hemisphere. Pollen data of Fagacea is important proxy in reconstructing Quaternary vegetation and climate changes. However, pollen identification for some key pollen types is still problematic:
(1) No criteria to classify Quercus pollen into evergreen and deciduous types, such as evergreen and deciduous types of subgenus Quercus and evergreen subgenus Cyclobalanopsis, most representative taxa in subtropical and tropical area;
(2) Identification limitation in highly similar pollen taxa is still unsolved, such as Castanopsis and Lithocarpus, which can be dominant community in south tropical forests;
(3) Fagus pollen has potentials to be identified into intraspecies types, still no high resolution morphological investigation;
(4) Limitation of pollen identification of Group Ilex (=Quercus subgenus Heterobalanus) renders its Paleoecological interpretation ambiguity.
Based on both extant pollen morphological examination and comparison with extracted Fagaceae pollen grains from surface sediments with light microscope and scanning electronic microscopy, this study tries to:
(1) Set up pollen diagnostic keys to genus and subgenus types;
(2) Assess differentiation for evergreen subgenus Quercus, Cyclobalanopsis and Group Ilex, discuss their palecological significance based on pollen types from various habitats; (3) Investigate pollen morphology and its evolutionary trend associated with their phylogeny.
(4) Compare modern pollen, sub-fossil and fossil pollen, try to find pollen identification guidelines for Quaternary pollen of Fagaceae.
Pollen types of Quercus sensu lata
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Palynological study on cereals and associated wild relatives
The most important methodological prerequisite for palynoarchaeological investigations is the reliable distinction between cereal and wild grass types. There is as yet no unanimous criterion of distinguishing pollen grains between wild grass and cereal types, so identification issue remains to be clarified. This study tries to answer:
(1) Are there any diagnostic keys to pollen types of cereal and their wild relatives;
(2) How recent palynology of cereals and their wild relatives aids interpretation for agricultural archaeology based on pollen morphology, pollen production and pollen assemblages from cropland soil.
The main methods are morphological investigation using LM, SEM and TEM techniques, combined with biometrics for pollen morphology; estimation of pollen absolute production; pollen analysis for surface sediments from croplands.
Measuring Poaceae pollen
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Quaternary pollen and spores in China
Key pollen types from Huguangyan Lake Marr, south China
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