Non-pollen palynomorphs from surface sediments along an altitudinal transect of the Venezuelan Andes

Abstract

Non-pollen palynomorphs from surface sediments along an altitudinal transect of the Venezuelan Andes Montoya, E.; Rull, V.; van Geel, B. General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Palynological studies including records of non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) are uncommon in the Neotropics, in spite of their demonstrated usefulness in other regions. Modern analog studies to improve palaeoecological interpretations of NPP are even more scarce. Here, we report the NPP assemblages recorded in modern surface samples from an altitudinal transect of the Venezuelan Andes, ranging from about 2300 and 4600 m. We compared the assemblages with the results of previous pollen analyses of the same samples. The variables considered to explain NPP patterns along the transect are altitude and the local habitat of the sampling site ("sample type"). A total of 65 NPP taxa -classified into algal and zoological remains, and fungal spores -have been found. Unidentified taxa (23) have been named with a code, depicted and described for further reference. Fungal spores are well represented along the whole transect, whereas algal and zoological remains are absent or very scarce in the lower and the uppermost ranges. The altitudinal zonation of fungal spores matches with that of pollen and the corresponding vegetation belts, suggesting a close relationship. The known environmental requirements of some of the fungi identified allowed inferences on particular ecological features, in agreement with previous palynological interpretations. Both elevation and sample type are needed to explain the observed differences in the assemblages of the three groups, the elevation being more decissive for fungal spores and the local habitat of the sampling site for algal and zoological remains. The sample type effect is minimised when the NPP studied are considered altogether, thus increasing their usefulness as palaeoecological proxies. This study reinforces the utility of modern analog surveys of NPP with palaeoecological purposes and encourages further research, particularly in poorly known areas, as for example tropical regions.

Identifying environmental drivers of fungal non-pollen palynomorphs in the montane forest of the eastern Andean flank, Ecuador

“…Tribute to Daniel Livingstone and Paul Colinvaux paucity of studies (Montoya et al, 2012), and within the Andes, their use is restricted to Venezuela (Rull andVegas-Vilarrúbia, 1998, 1999;Rull et al, 2008;Montoya et al, 2010Montoya et al, , 2012 and Colombia (Hooghiemstra, 1984;Kuhry, 1988;Grabandt, 1990).…”

“…Deviation from this methodology occurred in sample V5 where fungal spore type HdV-123 was overrepresented, accounting for 698.3% of the pollen sum; here the NPP count was increased until a minimum of 100 non-HdV-123 fungal spores had been counted. Identification of NPPs was undertaken using the available literature (van Geel, 1978;van Geel et al, 1981van Geel et al, , 1983van Geel et al, , 1989van Geel et al, , 2003van Geel et al, , 2011aBakker and van Smeerdijk, 1982;Hooghiemstra, 1984;van Smeerdijk, 1989;Rull and Vegas-Vilarrúbia, 1999;van Geel and Aptroot, 2006;Rull et al, 2008;Cugny et al, 2010;Montoya et al, 2010Montoya et al, , 2012Gelorini et al, 2011;López-Vila et al, 2014), types were recorded, and their known ecological affinities were described (Supplementary Appendix A). New NPP morphotypes encountered were assigned a unique code with the designation OU (The Open University), and their morphological characteristics were described based on a minimum of five examples (Supplementary Appendix B).…”

“…environments (Montoya et al, 2010), respectively. The association between the sole carbonicolous fungal NPP (Neurospora) and morphotypes indicative of a more open habitat (HdV-201 and IBB-16) fits with the inverse relationship between the fire regime and forest cover gradients in the CCA analysis (Fig.…”

“…The taxa comprise a number of fungal NPP morphotypes with a variety of autoecological characteristics suggested to relate to the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of eastern Andean montane landscape. Morphotypes IBB-262 and IBB-25 have previously been identified from within the cloud forest and páramo environments of Colombia and Venezuela (Hooghiemstra, 1984;Montoya et al, 2010). Amphirosellinia sp.…”

Modern pollen rain and fungal spore assemblages from pasture woodlands around Lake Saint-Point (France)

“…Comparisons with the floristic composition of the plot enable to provide information about general pollenvegetation relationships (e.g. Hjelle, 1997;Court-Picon et al, 2006;Mazier et al, 2006;Fletcher and Thomas, 2007;Cañellas-Boltà et al, 2009;Cugny et al, 2010;Montoya et al, 2010), and they are also used to assess the degree of over/under-representation of a taxon in the pollen rain. In Northern Europe, several studies have been conducted to address pollen-vegetation relationships, for instance in Sweden (Gaillard et al, 1992;Broström et al, 1998), in Norway (Hjelle, 1997(Hjelle, , 1999 and in northern Germany .…”