Poaceae pollen grains from southern Brazilian grasslands: Pollen grain size in species from dry and humid environments

Authors

  • Jefferson Nunes Radaeski Laboratório de Palinologia, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Campus Canoas, Brasil
  • Soraia Girardi Bauermann Laboratório de Palinologia, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Campus Canoas, Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/nbc.2018.132.03

Abstract

Southern Brazil has a high diversity of grassland Poaceae species in the biomes of the region. However, few data on the morphology and the uniformity of Poaceae pollen grains cause taxonomic low resolution in pollen records. In this study, pollen samples of grassland Poaceae species from different regions of southern Brazil were analyzed. The pollen diversity of 70 grassland Poaceae species (59 genera, 15 tribes, and 6 subfamilies) of the Pampa and Atlantic Forest biomes is presented. Morphometric measurements indicated that pollen grains of humid grasslands species have a larger size than those of dry grasslands species. Though the average of measurements shows a small difference in pollen grain sizes between the Pampa and the Atlantic Forest, such differences cannot be applied to fossil records because non-significant differences occurred between samples. Regarding pollen size, non-significant differences also occurred for the C3 and C4 samples, probably because C3 species had high variance in size. These records provide relevant ecological inferences of Poaceae pollen grains, providing valuable information for reconstruction of vegetation. Furthermore, regarding taxonomic relationships, results suggest the trend of decrease of the size of Poaceae pollen grains towards derived tribes.

Keywords: pollen records, Palynology, Pampa biome, grasses, diporate pollen grains.

Author Biography

Jefferson Nunes Radaeski, Laboratório de Palinologia, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Campus Canoas, Brasil

Laboratório de Palinologia da ULBRA

Downloads

Published

2018-06-05

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2018): April/June

Section

Articles

License

I grant the journal Neotropical Biology and Conservation the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article.

I also agree that the manuscript will be submitted according to the journal’s publication rules described above.