Pollen deposition in Tauber traps and surface soil samples in the Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon area, Pampa grasslands (Argentina).

F. LATORRE; C.F. PÉREZ; S. STUTZ; S. PASTORINO

BOLETíN DE LA SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE BOTáNICA

SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE BOTÁNICA

Año: 2010 vol. 45 p. 321 - 332

0373-580X

Estimations of airborne pollen loadings deposited in Tauber traps were studied in a coastal lagoon from south-eastern Pampa grasslands, Argentina, in order to assess their relationship with surface samples and to interpret the representativeness of local, regional and extraregional vegetation. Three different environments were considered: a coastal dune barrier with a psammophytic community, a salt marsh with a halophytic community in Mar Chiquita lagoon, and a freshwater community at Hinojales freshwater lake. Based on a record of surface samples taken from a previous paper, a parametric model was built to classify Tauber samples gathered from the natural vegetation communities of the study area. Results revealed that just like their surface counterparts, Tauber trap records qualitatively reflect the predominant vegetation types, although ecological groups feature different quantitative representations depending on the record type. Pollen loadings showed that airborne pollen transport was predominantly of local range, in accordance with previous results from the same study area. Airborne – surface samples relationships enrich our knowledge of the present environment which could be useful to improve paleoecological interpretations of the area. Key words Modern pollen deposition - Discriminant análisis - Spatio-temporal scales.