Abstract
The present article deals with the use of tree barks as a natural trap for airborne spores and pollen grains in China. The study carried out at the southern part of Beijing Botanical Garden, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences has yielded a variety of palynomorphs mostly belonging to tree taxa. New methodologies for extraction of palynomorphs from tree barks have been suggested. Bark samples were collected from three taxa, i.e., Paulownia fortunei Hemsl. (Scrophulariaceae), Quercus dentata Thunb. (Fagaceae), and Picea meyeri Rehder & E.H. Wilson (Pinaceae) having different bark morphologies. P. fortunei with a comparatively soft and fissured bark is believed to have a greater potential for trapping airborne spores and pollen grains compared to the stiff and less fissured barks of Q. dentata and the scaly bark of P. meyeri. Old barks yield better data in terms of quantity and quality of trapped pollen and spores. The present study throws new light on the modern pollen rain, spore-pollen dispersal, and their deposition in and around Beijing Botanical Garden, and other different parts of China.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Prof. Nai-Qiu Du from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences for her help with this study. This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2014CB954201), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271222), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists (90004F1005), and the visiting scholarship funded by China Scholarship Council (CSC).
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Song, X., Bera, S., Yao, Y. et al. Tree barks as a natural trap for airborne spores and pollen grains from China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 2331–2339 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0269-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0269-7