Pollen and spores as a passive monitor of ultraviolet radiation

Lomax, Barry H.; Fraser, Wesley T.; Jardine, Phillip E.; Gosling, William D.; Sephton, Mark A.

doi:10.3389/fevo.2014.00012

Pollen and spores as a passive monitor of ultraviolet radiation

Lomax, Barry H.; Fraser, Wesley T.; Jardine, Phillip E.; Gosling, William D.; Sephton, Mark A.

Authors

Barry H. Lomax

Wesley T. Fraser

Phillip E. Jardine

William D. Gosling

Mark A. Sephton

Abstract

© 2014 Fraser, Lomax, Jardine, Gosling and Sephton. Sporopollenin is the primary component of the outer walls of pollen and spores. The chemical composition of sporopollenin is responsive to levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure, via a concomitant change in the concentration of phenolic compounds. This relationship offers the possibility of using fossil pollen and spore chemistry as a novel proxy for past UV flux. Phenolic compounds in sporopollenin can be quantified using Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy. The high potential for preservation of pollen and spores in the geologic record, and the conservative nature of sporopollenin chemistry across the land plant phylogeny, means that this new proxy has the potential to reconstruct UV flux over much longer timescales than has previously been possible. This new tool has important implications for understanding the relationship between UV flux, solar insolation and climate in the past, as well as providing a possible means of assessing paleoaltitude, and ozone thickness.

Citation

Lomax, B. H., Fraser, W. T., Jardine, P. E., Gosling, W. D., & Sephton, M. A. (2014). Pollen and spores as a passive monitor of ultraviolet radiation. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2, Article 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2014.00012

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 3, 2014
Online Publication Date	Apr 22, 2014
Publication Date	Apr 22, 2014
Deposit Date	Oct 20, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Jul 30, 2020
Journal	Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Electronic ISSN	2296-701X
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	2
Article Number	12
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2014.00012
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1098367
Publisher URL	https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2014.00012/full
Related Public URLs	http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2014.00012/abstract