Modern pollen rain from Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir), India: insights into pollen production, dispersal, transport and preservation

ABSTRACT

The present communication deals with pollen analyses of moss polsters in order to understand the pollen rain from Udhampur District of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The study revealed that the pollen of Pinus sp. (average 46% pollen) dominates the pollen rain, which could be attributed to its high pollen productivity and excellent pollen dispersal efficiency, followed by Cedrus sp., and Podocarpus sp. However, other conifers such as Abies sp., Picea sp., Juniperus sp. and Tsuga sp., as well as the broad-leaved taxa such Alnus sp., Betula sp., Ulmus sp., Quercus sp., Carpinus sp., Corylus sp., Juglans sp., Ilex sp., Mallotus sp., Elaeocarpus sp. and Aesculus sp., were sporadically recorded which could be due to either their poor pollen dispersal efficiency or poor preservation in the substrate. Tubuliflorae, Poaceae, Amaranthaceae, Malvaceae and Cerealia are the other prominent taxa of the pollen rain, revealing their actual composition in the ground vegetation.

KEYWORDS:

• Pollen analysis
• pollen rain
• Udhampur
• Jammu and Kashmir
• India

Acknowledgements

MFQ thanks the Department of Science & Technology (DST), New Delhi, India, for financial assistance in the form of a DST Fast Track Young Scientist Project (SR/FTP/ES-81/2013, dated 20/01/2014) to conduct the study. Thanks are also due to Professor Sunil Bajpai, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), India, for providing the infrastructure facilities to complete the research work and also for permission to publish. We are highly thankful to Dr. D.M. Jarzen, Palaeobotany and Palynology Department, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Professor (Dr) Francine M.G. McCarthy, Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, Canada, and the other, anonymous reviewers for their invaluable and insightful comments which helped us to improve an earlier version of the manuscript. MFQ extends his sincere thanks to Dr James B. Riding, Managing Editor, Palynology, for his kind encouragement and also for his keen interest in improving the quality of an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the DST, Govt of India, India [grant number SR/FTP/ES-81/2013, dated 20/01/2014].

Notes on contributors

M.F. Quamar

MOHAMMAD FIROZE QUAMAR was awarded MSc in Botany by Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University-BRABU), Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India in 2004 with 1^st Position. He received his PhD (Botany) in 2011 from the University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He worked as a Birbal Sahni Research Scholar (BSRS) and Birbal Sahni Research Associate (BSRA) at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) in Lucknow. He joined as Scientist “B” in BSIP in 2013 and is presently working as a Scientist “C”. His research interests mainly include the reconstruction of palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate in the central Indian core monsoon zone (CMZ) during the Late Quaternary using pollen as a proxy. He also runs a Fast Track Young Scientist Project (Reference No. SR/FTP/ES-81/2013, dated 20.01.2014) in Western Himalaya (Jammu and Kashmir), India funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, India. He has received Dr. B.S. Venkatachala Memorial Medal for his outstanding piece of research work in palaeobotany among the young scientists of BSIP in 2014. He is also the recipient of Paper of the Month (POTM) Award from BSIP in 2014; prizes for Best Poster Presentation at NIT, Rourkela, Odisha in 2013 and at BSIP, Lucknow in 2016. He has recently been awarded to Dr. Chunnilal Khatiyal Medal on 14^th November, 2016 in the category of Scientist “B” at the BSIP, Lucknow, India. He has published 36 research papers (including 3 Review Articles) and 5 Meeting Reports in peer-reviewed journals.

S. Nawaz Ali

SHEIKH NAWAZ ALI was awarded BSc in Geology, Botany, and Zoology in 2004, and MSc (Geology) by University of Jammu, India in 2006. He received his PhD (Geology) in 2011 from the University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He did his Post-Doctoral Research from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India and joined Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) in October 2013 as Scientist “B”. His research interests include Quaternary geology, geomorphology and palaeoclimatic reconstructions with the emphasis on the role of glaciations in Quaternary climate variability in Indian sub-continent. He is now working as a Scientist “C” at BSIP and also runs 2 projects funded by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India. He has published 25 research papers (including a Meeting Report) in peer reviewed high impact factor journals.

Sundeep K. Pandita

SUNDEEP K. PANDITA (M. Sc. Gold Medalist, Ph.D.), presently Professor at University of Jammu, Jammu, India is the recipient of Young Sedimentologists Award and Young Scientists Award. He has been teaching and conducting research in Sedimentology and Quaternary Geology for the last 25 years and has published four books and more than 45 research papers in national and international journals. He is currently running national and international collaborative research projects in the Kashmir- Chamba basins Northwest Himalaya on Proterozoic – Palaeozoic sedimentary successions with emphasis on provenance, age and depositional setup.

Yudhbir Singh

YUDHBIR SINGH presently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India. He completed his Master Degree from the same department and started his research in the year 2002 and completed his Doctorate degree in 2006 with specialization in Geotechnical and Engineering Geology (Landslides). His contribution in the field Geology has been widely recognized and in recognition of the contributions by him in the field of Engineering Geology and Seismology, the J&K State Council for Science & Technology conferred J&K Young Scientist Award-2010 to him in the field of Environmental Sciences including Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences. He has published 17 research papers as well as many reports and field guides in national and international peer reviewed journals. He has also published monographs on Landslide Investigations and served as an editor of a book entitled Geo-environment: Challenges ahead published by McMilan India Limited.