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Modern Pollen-Rain Characteristics of Tall Terra Firme Moist Evergreen Forest, Southern Amazonia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William D. Gosling ,
Francis E. Mayle ,
Nicholas J. Tate  and
Timothy J. Killeen
William D. Gosling
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
Francis E. Mayle
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK
Nicholas J. Tate
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
Timothy J. Killeen
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, 2501 M Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20037, USA Museo de Historia Natural “Noel Kempff Mercado”, Avenida Irala 565, Casilla 2489, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
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Abstract

The paucity of modern pollen-rain data from Amazonia constitutes a significant barrier to understanding the Late Quaternary vegetation history of this globally important tropical forest region. Here, we present the first modern pollen-rain data for tall terra firme moist evergreen Amazon forest, collected between 1999 and 2001 from artificial pollen traps within a 500 × 20 m permanent study plot (14°34′50″S, 60°49′48″W) in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (NE Bolivia). Spearman's rank correlations were performed to assess the extent of spatial and inter-annual variability in the pollen rain, whilst statistically distinctive taxa were identified using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). Comparisons with the floristic and basal area data of the plot (stems ≥10 cm d.b.h.) enabled the degree to which taxa are over/under-represented in the pollen rain to be assessed (using R-rel values). Moraceae/Urticaceae dominates the pollen rain (64% median abundance) and is also an important constituent of the vegetation, accounting for 16% of stems ≥10 cm d.b.h. and ca. 11% of the total basal area. Other important pollen taxa are Arecaceae (cf. Euterpe), Melastomataceae/Combretaceae, Cecropia, Didymopanax, Celtis, and Alchornea. However, 75% of stems and 67% of the total basal area of the plot ≥10 cm d.b.h. belong to species which are unidentified in the pollen rain, the most important of which are Phenakospermum guianensis (a banana-like herb) and the key canopy-emergent trees, Erisma uncinatum and Qualea paraensis.

Keywords

Moist evergreen forestModern pollen rainAmazonBoliviaNeotropicsPollen trapMoraceae/Urticaceae
Type
Special issue articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , November 2005 , pp. 284 - 297
Copyright
University of Washington

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