Modern pollen-vegetation relationship as an adjunct in the interpretation of fossil pollen records in the Chilka Lagoon, Odisha, India

Abstract

In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to evaluate modern pollen- vegetation relationship in the surface sediments of the Chilka Lagoon, Odisha. The ecosystem of the Chilka Lagoon has remained unique throughout its existence and the data generated from the analysis of surface sediments can be used for the interpretation of palynological results in terms of past vegetation and climate around the Chilka Lagoon. The palynological investigations exhibited the dominance of midland taxa over the peripheral and fresh water taxa. The modern pollen-vegetation relationship as represented by the pollen spectra reflects the local and nearby vegetation in a consistent way. Core mangrove pollen grains were poorly registered in the pollen spectra as they are either absent or represented in a degraded form in the present vegetation scenario. However, good representation of grasses showed a more or less close coherence with their actual composition in the present vegetation cover.