Seven years of arboreal pollen monitoring in the İğneada waterlogged forests (NW Turkey)

Abstract

This study was carried out in the İğneada Waterlogged Forests (Kırklareli) located downhill of Istranca mountains at 20 km distance to Bulgaria border line and had a shore to Black Sea. These forests have different vegetation types such as waterlogged forest, peat, bog and sand dunes plant communities, sand zone and wetlands. The main arboreal species of these forests are Acer campestre, Acer trautvetteri, Alnus glutinosa, Carpinus betulus, Carpinus orientalis, Fraxinus angustifolia, Fraxinus ornus, Juglans regia, Quercus cerris, Quercus frainetto, Quercus petraea, Quercus robur, Ulmus leavis and Ulmus minor. Pollen monitoring results were obtained from six different sampling sites in the waterlogged forests around Mert and Saka Lake. The purpose of this study is to determine the modern pollen distribution of these forests and to create a basic calibration scheme for the fossil pollen studies. For this purpose, seven years of modern pollen distribution was monitored between September 2009 and 2016 using Tauber pollen traps which were placed at 6 different points in this study area. These traps were changed once a year in the field and transferred to the Palynology Laboratory of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa. The protocol of European Pollen Monitoring Programme (EPMP) was followed in the laboratory methodology. The majority of the pollen influx obtained from the Tauber pollen traps in the İğneada Waterlogged forests belongs to Fraxinus and Carpinus from 2009 to 2016. As a result of this study, the annual arboreal pollen influxes of Fraxinus, Carpinus, Quercus, Acer, Corylus, Ulmus, Hedera helix and Alnus was higher respectively in the years of 2009-2016. Seven-year pollen influx data of these pollen traps reflects the current vegetation.