If you are allergic to pollen, you are likely to curse the existence of these microscopic particles. You're not alone: up to 30% of the world's population suffers from hay fever, which is often driven by pollen allergies. Shifting global climates are likely to push that figure even higher.
Pollen grains are incredibly durable because they are made of an organic substance that is very resistant to decay. Pollen is released into the air, often in large quantities, and can settle on surfaces like lakes, and become preserved in sediment deposits over thousands, or even millions, of years.
In the lab, we examine the pollen found in these deposits using a microscope. By identifying the different types of pollen grains found within the different layers we can reconstruct the area's vegetation history. Plants grow under specific climatic conditions: for instance, desert plants can grow under low rainfall conditions whereas forest plants need high amounts of rainfall. So we can make inferences about the climate at the time that the pollen was incorporated into the deposit.
As I've said, southern Africa's arid climates mean there are very few large lakes in the region. This makes it a challenge to source deposits that adequately preserve pollen within them over long periods of time. That's whereThese sticky deposits called"middens" accumulate in rock crevices in mountainous areas over thousands to tens of thousands of years and contain beautifully preserved pollen grains.
We are currently generating fossil pollen records from several sites within the Cape Fold Belt mountains of South Africa. For example, we have a midden sequence that covers the last 6,000 years from the Baviaanskloof in the Eastern Cape province. The fossil pollen from this sequence shows that there was a dramatic shift in vegetation about 3,300 years ago, driven by a large fire event and increased temperatures. We're hoping to publish this research soon.
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