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Pollen and plant diversity relationships in a Mediterranean montane area

Connor, Simon E.; van Leeuwen, Jacqueline F.N.; (Pim) van der Knaap, W.O.; Akindola, Rufus B.; Adeleye, Matthew A.; Mariani, Michela

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Authors

Simon E. Connor

Jacqueline F.N. van Leeuwen

W.O. (Pim) van der Knaap

Rufus B. Akindola

Matthew A. Adeleye



Abstract

Understanding the significance of pollen diversity is key to reconstructing plant diversity over long timescales. Here we present quantitative pollen–plant diversity comparisons for a mountainous area of the Western Mediterranean region. Samples were collected between 430–1865 m elevation and pollen–plant diversity assessed through richness and turnover (beta-diversity) metrics. We found statistically significant relationships between pollen diversity metrics and the diversity of pollen-equivalent plant taxa in the surrounding vegetation. The strongest richness relationships emerged from the exclusion of trees and with rarefaction applied to both plant and pollen datasets. Three different metrics for turnover produced similar results, but emphasise different components of beta diversity (replacement vs richness differences). These results pave the way for reconstructing biodiversity trends from pollen sequences, with a number of caveats. Fossil pollen is a potentially a rich source of information on past biodiversity in the Mediterranean region.

Citation

Connor, S. E., van Leeuwen, J. F., (Pim) van der Knaap, W., Akindola, R. B., Adeleye, M. A., & Mariani, M. (2021). Pollen and plant diversity relationships in a Mediterranean montane area. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 30(5), 583-594. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00811-0

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 3, 2020
Online Publication Date Nov 6, 2020
Publication Date 2021-09
Deposit Date Oct 8, 2020
Publicly Available Date Nov 7, 2021
Journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Print ISSN 0939-6314
Electronic ISSN 1617-6278
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 30
Issue 5
Pages 583-594
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00811-0
Keywords Plant diversity, Mediterranean, Palynological richness, Turnover, vegetation
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4946253
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00334-020-00811-0
Additional Information Received: 21 April 2020; Accepted: 29 October 2020; First Online: 6 November 2020

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