Distinguishing the pollen of Dipterocarpaceae from the seasonally dry, and moist tropics of south-east Asia using light microscopy

Abstract

The Dipterocarpaceae family is ubiquitous across mainland and maritime south-east Asia. Species within the family are often so well-adapted to – and prolific within – ecologically distinct forest types, that they are used as habitat indicators within forestry and ecological research. The limited work on the classification of Dipterocarpaceae pollen under light microscopy, however, means that paleoecologists working in the region are currently unable to link fossil pollen to indicator species/assemblages with any confidence. As a consequence, ecologically meaningful and habitat-specific data are homogenized in the paleorecord.