Modern pollen and its ecological relationships with the tropical deciduous forests of central Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

The paucity of modern pollen-rain data from the central part of Uttar Pradesh is a significant barrier to understanding the Late Quaternary vegetation history from the northern region of India. The interplay between extant vegetation and the modern pollen assemblage from both natural and human-induced vegetation types is examined from Lucknow, as an aid for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. A dataset of 25 surface pollen samples has been documented from the conservation forests of Kukrail, Lucknow (part of Central Ganga Plain). The palynodata reflect the mixed deciduous forest comprising Acacia, Butea, Salmalia, and Syzygium under a warm and humid climate in response to rainfall variations in the region. High monsoonal activity in and around the region is inferred from the presence of the Euphorbiaceae–Moraceae–Syzygium assemblage in the sediments. The marshy and aquatic taxa such as Cyperaceae, Nymphoides and Polygonaceae are strongly suggestive of the perennial waterlogged condition in the area. A striking signal of winter dryness is easily visible in the palynoassemblage, especially observed through Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae. The regular presence of pollen grains of conifers and other broad-leafed taxa including Alnus, Betula, Pinus and Quercus are suggestive of high wind activity from the higher altitudes. Anthropogenic activity is in continuous pace as reflected by the higher frequencies of cereal pollen (14–29%) and Brassicaceae (2–5%). The contrasting frequencies of extant floral taxa recovered in the form of pollen in varied surface samples are indicative of differential pollen production, dispersal and deposition patterns. Therefore, an attempt has been made to precisely observe the behavioural pattern of modern pollen deposition which could in turn help in assessing the expanse of pastoral practices and the depth of deterioration of pristine forests as well as in the reconstruction of past climate and vegetation shifts in Central Ganga Plain, India. A correlation of regional palynodata with other tropical regions of the Indian subcontinent as well as in a global context is required for better interpretation.

Keywords:

• surface samples
• pollen
• vegetation
• Kukrail; Lucknow
• Central Ganga Plain
• India

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Sunil Bajpai, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, for providing the necessary facilities, permission for the collaborative research (No. IV/BSIP/SA/Collaboration/2014-15/C-662) and publication of the manuscript. We are thankful to the Kukrail forest officials for their kind permission for the field work. We are extremely grateful to anonymous Reviewer 1 and Dr. D.M. Jarzen for making scientific comments which helped in shaping the manuscript for a broader group of readers. Thanks are due to Dr. James Riding, Chief Editor of Palynology, for his invaluable constructive comments for improving the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Ms. Shilpi Singh and Mr. Satyendra Tripathi for their kind help.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Swati Tripathi

SWATI TRIPATHI is currently working as a Scientist ‘B’ at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany. She focuses on palaeoclimatology using Quaternary pollen as a proxy. She was awarded a BSc from Lucknow University in 2005. She received three gold medals for obtaining the highest percentage of marks in MSc (botany), Lucknow University in 2007. She received her PhD in 2011 from the Department of Botany, Lucknow University. Swati worked as a research fellow and Birbal Sahni Research Associate before joining as a Scientist B. She is also the recipient of the Dr. B.S. Venkatachala Memorial Medal (2012) for her outstanding research work in palaeobotany. She has 24 research papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

Ajay K. Arya

AJAY KUMAR ARYA was awarded a BSc from the University of Lucknow in 2001, an MTech in applied geology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, in 2004 and a PhD in environmental geology from the University of Lucknow in 2013. He is currently an assistant professor in Geology at the University of Lucknow and is working on palaeoclimatology, environmental geology, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). He has eight years’ teaching and 11 years’ research experience, and has published 10 papers in national and international journals.

Sadhan K. Basumatary

SADHAN K. BASUMATARY was awarded a BSc from the University of Gauhati in 1995, an MSc in botany (special paper microbiology) from the University of Gauhati in 1998 and a PhD in Quaternary palynology from the University of Lucknow in 2011. He is currently a Scientist ‘C’ at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow, working on palaeoclimatology using multiproxy data. He has 12 years’ research experience, and has published 60 papers in national and international journals.

Samir K. Bera

SAMIR K. BERA was awarded a BSc in botany from the University of Calcutta in 1976, an MSc in botany from the University of Burdwan in 1978 and a PhD from the University of Lucknow in 1989. He is currently a Scientist ‘F’ at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow, working on palaeoclimatology and using Quaternary pollen as a proxy. Samir has 33 years’ research experience, and has published 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has visited Antarctica twice, and has supervised several research students.