Studies on Pollen Rain vis-a-vis Vegetation Relationship and Thecamoebian Diversity in Bari Tal area, Lucknow District, Uttar Pradesh

ABSTRACT: The paper embodies the modern pollen rain-vegetation relationship from sub-tropical belt, India. Palynological study was carried out on ten samples collected at sediment-water interface from lake-Bari Tal, Lucknow (UP). The quantitative and qualitative analysis of pollen and spores reveals the dominance of non-arboreals and relatively extremely low frequencies of arboreals (trees & shrubs). Among the tree taxa, Madhuca indica (av. 6.8%) and Acacia (av. 4.7%) are the major components and they are consistently represented with collectively av. 11.5 % pollen, whereas rest of the trees viz., Holoptelea, Bauhinia, Terminalia, Shorea robusta, Syzygium, Emblica officinalis, members of Meliaceae, etc., are meagre although they are common in the region. The under-representation of all these taxa could be due to low pollen production and entomophilly. The partial preservation of their pollen in the sediments cannot be denied. In general, the trees taxa constitute av. 22.5 % fraction of the total pollen rain and it does not reflect their actual composition in the extant vegetation, despite their sparse presence in the area. The representation of grasses, sedges, Cheno/Am, Caryophyllaceae, Brassicaceae, Asteraceae, etc. in the pollen spectra substantiates their actual composition in the herbaceous complex. The frequent encounter of Cerealia along with other culture pollen taxa viz., Cheno/Am, Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, etc. depicts the proximity o