Pollen morphology of selected tundra plants from the high Arctic of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

• Main Authors: Yifeng, Yao, Qi, Zhao, Subir, Bera, Xiaoli, Li, Chengsen, Li
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2012
• Subjects: Fauna; Terrestrial; Arctic; Svalbard; Ny-Ålesund; Advances in Polar Science; Ny Ålesund; Polar Science; Tundra
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2454/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2454/1/A20120206.pdf

Documenting morphological features of modern pollen is fundamental for the identification of fossil pollen, which will assist researchers to reconstruct the vegetation and climate of a particular geologic period. This paper presents the pollen morphology of 20 species of tundra plants from the high Arctic of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, using light and scanning electron microscopy. The plants used in this study belong to 12 families: Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Juncaceae, Papaveraceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. Pollen grain shapes included: spheroidal, subprolate, and prolate. Variable apertural patterns ranged from 2-syncolpate, 3-colpate, 3-(-4)-colpate, 3-(-5)-colpate, 3-colporate, 5-poroid, ulcerate, ulcus to pantoporate. Exine ornamentations comprised psilate, striate-perforate, reticulate, microechinate, microechinate-perforate, scabrate, granulate, and granulate-perforate. This study provided a useful reference for comparative studies of fossil pollen and for the reconstruction of paleovegetation and paleoclimate in Svalbard region of Arctic.