What does the pollen rain represent ?

The pollen rain in a given place is the sum of all the pollens and spores that fall onto the ground in a given time span.
In order to examine the composition of the present pollen rain, pollen traps can be installed: they are designed to collect wind-borne pollen grains. Moss tufts are also good natural pollen traps.
The reason for this analysis is to understand how the present vegetation is reflected in the pollen spectra. This is very helpful in reconstructing past vegetation from fossil pollen spectra.

Make experiment     Summary without experimentation

Click on moss tufts to see the corresponding spectrum
and answer the questionnaire below.