News Excerpt:
New research has developed a modern analogue for pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) of Kaziranga National Park that can help interpret the past vegetation and climate in a region.
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About Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPPs):
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Key highlights of the study:
- This study from Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), an autonomous institution of DST, evaluates both the strengths and weaknesses of the biotic proxy.
- It assesses how reliably modern pollen and NPP analogues can identify different ecological environments and could be used as a baseline in interpreting Late Quaternary palaeo-environmental and ecological changes more accurately in this region.
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What is a Biotic Proxy?
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Significance of the study:
- Modern pollen analogue being a prerequisite in this high precipitation tropical region for deciphering the past and future climatic scenario, the palaeo-ecological data would assist in better understanding the sustainable future projections in and around the national park.
- Combining pollen and NPP can reveal more detailed information and strengthen subsequent palaeo-environmental reconstructions compared to single-proxy interpretation.
- The research is the first holistic approach towards developing modern pollen and NPP analogue that would be an accurate reference tool for the past herbivory and ecological studies in the tropical region of northeast India.
- The study helps identify marker pollen taxa recovered from the surface soil samples in relation to the different vegetation and land-use from Kaziranga National Park.
- It could help public and wildlife management agencies understand the association of flora and fauna, especially herbivores in national parks, to conserve it for current and future prospects.
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