Pollen Analysis of Lake Sediments, Surface Soils and Leaf Trait Measurements in the Eastern Ghats of India
Speaker : Mr. Stephen A., Doctorate, Department of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry.
Modern pollen-vegetation relationship is essential for interpreting the past vegetational, environmental and climatic changes obtained from analyzing lake/ tank sediments. Surface soil, whose pollen contents were analyzed in conjunction with vegetation surveys, were studied along different forest patches of Eastern Ghats (EG).to understand this relationship.
Pollen data obtained from a 1.5m core collected in central Andhra Pradesh (Rusula Cheruvu) proved useful in reconstructing the vegetational history of this area. Sediment core examined in this study dates back to 700 years B.P. During the past 700 years B.P. significant changes in climate occurred in and around Rusula Cheruvu. It is found that four wet and three dry events occurred in the past. The wet period is corroborated by increased abundance of Cyperaceae (sedge) pollen along with tree pollen taxa. The marked increase in both degradation and forest markers in the recent past indicates that both deforestation and afforestation have gone hand in hand.
I also present leaf trait measurements esp., Specific leaf area (SLA) from EG and a comprehensive list of plant taxa grouped based on leaf trait measurements with corresponding pollen taxa from surface samples from EG. Application of leaf trait measurements in PFT classification and pollen taxa correlation will be highlighted in the talk.
The main aim of the talk is to present the results of my Ph. D. thesis:
* Establish a modern pollen-vegetation relationship in EG, * Past vegetation-climate changes in a rainfed tank and * Leaf trait measurements in EG.
I will briefly touch upon the application of such studies in the reconstruction of vegetational and environmental history in the Cauvery floodplains.
Organisers : Department of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry.
Venue : Jawaharlal Nehru Conference Hall, French Institute of Pondicherry, 11, Saint Louis Street, Pondicherry - 605 001.
