Pollen grains from bottom surface sediments of Comprida Lagoon, restinga de Jurubatiba National Park, Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Knowledge of pollen morphology is essential for Applied Palynology studies. In Quaternary Palynology, the correct identification of pollen grains in sediments is fundamental for the reliability of paleoenvironmental interpretations. Therefore, studies on pollen morphology and palynological atlases are important. The Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park (RJNP), northern Rio de Janeiro State, has been the subject of palynological studies, aiming to understand and restore the park’s former flora. This work presents the morphological description of pollen grains found in bottom surface sediments of the Comprida lagoon, and provides photomicrographs, general ecological data of the origin taxa and their habitats in the RJNP, to contribute with reference material for the identification of occurrent taxa in “restinga” environments. The described pollen grains came from three bottom surface sediments samples collected with a Van-Veen equipment. The samples were processed according to the methodology proposed as standard for quaternary sediments with sequential use of HF (40%), HCl (10%), KOH (10%), classical acetolysis and five micrometer (μm) mesh sieving by ultrasound. Here, 87 pollen types related to 54 Angiospermae families are described, which represent a high pollen diversity, reflecting diverse habitats existing in the Park. These results demonstrate the present work’s relevance as support for paleoenvironmental restorations in the Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park.