Modern cave pollen in an arid environment and its application to describe palaeorecords

  1. Navarro, Cristina
  2. Munuera Giner, Manuel
  3. Prieto, A. R.
  4. Carrión García, José Sebastián
Journal:
Complutum

ISSN: 1131-6993

Year of publication: 2002

Issue: 13

Pages: 7-18

Type: Article

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Abstract

This paper presents pollen-analytical results of surface sediments from two caves in southeastern Spain, a region of particular interest because of its relatively arid climate and entomophilous-dominated flora. The positive role of aridity on pollen preservation in cave sediments is confirmed, and is reflected by samples with high pollen concentration and number of taxa, and low percentages of indeterminable palynomorphs. Pollen spectra from cave sediments, while strongly influenced by biotic transport, may represent the surrounding vegetation acceptably well, even better than the external pollen rain in which is biased by very abundant production and dispersal of wind-pollinated taxa.

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