Comparison between two kinds of natural pollen traps in tropical China: ants’ nests on tree branches versus surface soil

Author(s)
Zhi-Yong Zhang, Feng-Chun Yang, Dong-Mei Cheng, David-Kay Ferguson, Wan Hu, Yue-Zhuo Li, Cheng-Sen Li
Abstract

Natural pollen traps have been known for many years. This study analyzed the palynological characteristics of 12 ant nests on branches and 12 surface soil samples, collected from tropical areas of Yunnan and Hainan in China. Pollen grains and spores of 21 taxa belonging to 21 families were recorded from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and 30 taxa from 27 families were recorded from Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden. Ant nests yielded nine taxa belonging to nine families from the Geopark in Haikou. There is a close relationship between the pollen assemblages from ant nests and those from surface soil. Although the average similarity of pollen taxa between them reaches approximately 70%, surface soil proves to be a more effective trap than ants' nests.

Organisation(s)
Department of Palaeontology
External organisation(s)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Honghe University, Qian-Dao-Hu Museum of Natural History
Journal
Palynology
Volume
44
Pages
4-11
No. of pages
8
ISSN
0191-6122
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2018.1549117
Publication date
01-2019
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105118 Palaeontology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Palaeontology
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/261a9163-7a25-4391-9545-95c0e1cbf3dc