Palynological evidence for plant-animal interaction in the late Holocene

Abstract

Pollen grains of Centaurea cyanus and Polygonum aviculare are common indicators of the activity of man in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Studied through pollen analysis, the vegetation history of Holocene deposits reveals numerous occurrences of atypical grains of these species in the youngest pollen zones. Other pollen types with the same atypical features as the taxa mentioned above also occur sporadically; these include Centaurea rhenana/jacea and Apiaceae. The occurrence of some of these pollen types is not only restricted to the period of human impact. They are also noted in earlier periods—in the Younger Dryas, in the Eemian interglacial and in the Saalian. It is possible that a large proportion of the pollen introduced into lake deposits had passed through the throats and abdomens of various animals. The pros and cons of possible explanations are considered in this paper.