Palynological study of surface soil samples from the Kartala Forest Range of the Korba District, Chhattisgarh, central India: Modern pollen-rain/ vegetation relationship

摘要

A palynological study of the surface soil samples collected from the edge of forested areas of the Kartala Forest Range in the Korba District of Chhattisgarh State,central India, was carried out. The objectives of the present study are to establish the relationship between the modern pollen-rain and extant vegetation and also to look into the various factors affecting the study in various ways. The recovered palynomorphs included the pollen of tropical deciduous forest (both moist and dry types) elements (both trees and shrubs), along with aquatic and marshy herbaceous taxa, as well as pteridophytic, algal, fungal spores, and transported pollen (drifted taxa) exclusively from the Himalaya. The major pollen documented include Madhuca indica, members of the family Sapotaceae (e.g. Manilkara hexandra and Mimusops elangi), Terminalia, Schleicheru, Emblica officinalis, Shorea robusta and Diospyros as well as Acanthaceae and Strobilanthes, amongst the tree and shrubby elements of the arboreals, respectively. Also, Poaceae, Cerealia, Amaranthaceae, Tubuliflorae (Asteroideae; a sub family of the family, Asteraceae), amongst the terrestrial herbaceous plant pollen taxa are well documented. The recovered palynomorph assemblages revealed the dominance of arboreal pollen taxa (APs; trees and shrubs) over the non-arboreal pollen taxa (NAPs; herbs), suggesting open forest vegetation around the area of investigation.