Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) pollen and its potential role in investigations of Holocene environments in southwestern Australia

Abstract

This study investigated the potential for using suites of pollen morphological characters to identify pollen of Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) to species in modern and fossil material. Characteristics were examined in the modern pollen from nine species of Eucalyptus that occur in an area around Walpole, on the south coast of southwestern Australia. Success was achieved in separating the modern pollen into defined pollen types. These character suites were then applied to fossil Eucalyptus pollen in a nearby Holocene sequence, Boggy Lake, to assess their usefulness in distinguishing fossil pollen into types. Considerable success was achieved with this, although up to 50% of the pollen grains could not be allocated to the pollen types for a variety of reasons. However, the study demonstrated that the fossil records of Eucalyptus pollen are potentially more environmentally informative than has previously been thought, at least for Holocene studies in this region. The use of suites of characters may be applicable to the identification of Eucalyptus species elsewhere, and also to other genera within the Myrtaceae.