Modern pollen rain in the Bale Mountains (Ethiopia) along an elevational gradient

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Abstract

A modern pollen rain study along an altitudinal gradient in the Bale Mountains National Park (Ethiopia, East Africa) was carried out from 1580 m a.s.l. to 4110 m a.s.l. The contents of seven artificial pollen traps from seven plant communities corresponding to different altitudinal belts were investigated. Pollen spectra reflect dominant taxa of plant communities in most cases. However, the pollen of some widespread plants was underrepresented in the spectra due to low pollen production, flowering rhythms, and local features of the vegetation cover. Long-distance pollen transport was noted in all plant communities, but it was most pronounced in open communities.

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About the authors

K. A. Savina

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119071

E. A. Kuzmicheva

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119071

E. E. Severova

Lomonosov Moscow State University; MSU-BIT University

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119991; Schenzhen, China, 518172

B. F. Khasanov

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
National Research University Higher School of Economics

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119071; Moscow, 109028

W. W. Girmay

Addis Ababa University

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, P.O. Box 1176

S. Nemomissa

Addis Ababa University

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, P.O. Box 1176

O. A. Krylovich

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119071

A. B. Savinetsky

A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: kuzmicheva.evgeniya@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 119071

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2. Fig. 1. Schematic representation of a modified Behling pollen trap exposed in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia for 1 year (adapted from Jantz et al., 2013).

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3. Fig. 2. a) Schematic profile of the Bale Mountains, oriented in the southwest–northeast direction, indicating the location of pollen traps (adapted from Miehe, Miehe, 1994); b) Map of the study area and the location of pollen traps. CAS – hackberry-Afrocarp forest with Coffea arabica; PSS – mid-mountain forest with a predominance of Syzygium and Pouteria; BS – bamboo belt with a predominance of Oldeania alpina; AA – Afro-alpine high mountain belt; EN – heather belt; HJN – Hagenia-juniper forest; AJN – Afrocarp-juniper forest with Hagenia abyssinica.

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4. Fig. 3. The most common and undetermined palynotypes found in modified Behling pollen traps exposed in the Bale Mountains (Ethiopia) for one year. 1–2 – Afrocarpus, 3 – Cupressaceae, 4 – Ericaceae, 5–6 – Sapindaceae, 7–8 – Hagenia, 9–10 – Asteraceae (Asteroideae), 11–12 – Oleaceae, 13 – Poaceae, 14–15 – Hypericum, 16–17 – Macaranga, 18–19 – Nuxia, 20 – Urticaceae, 21 – Syzygium, 22–23 – PT 17161, 24 – PT191611, 25 – PT191616, 26 – PT211621.

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5. Fig. 4. Percentage diagram of dominant palynotypes in the spectra of modern pollen rain in different plant communities of the Bale Mountains. Palynotypes with a content of less than or equal to 2% are marked with a circle. AP/NAP is the ratio of pollen content of woody (AP) and non-woody (NAP) palynotypes. CAS is afrocarp hackberry forest with Coffea arabica; PSS is a mid-mountain forest with a predominance of Syzygium and Pouteria; BS is a bamboo belt with a predominance of Oldeania alpina; AA is an afroalpine high-mountain belt; EN is a heather belt; HJN is a hagenia-juniper forest; AJN is an afrocarp-juniper forest with Hagenia abyssinica.

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6. Fig. 5. Diagram of pollen accumulation rates of dominant palynotypes in the spectra of modern pollen rain in different plant communities of the Bale Mountains (p.z. cm-2 year-1) (values ​​are reduced by 100 times). CAS – hackberry-Afrocarp forest with Coffea arabica; PSS – mid-mountain forest with prevalence of Syzygium and Pouteria; BS – bamboo belt with prevalence of Oldeania alpina; AA – Afro-alpine high-mountain belt; EN – heather belt; HJN – Hagenia-juniper forest; AJN – Afrocarp-juniper forest with Hagenia abyssinica.

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7. Fig. 6. Total pollen accumulation rate (p.s. cm–2 year–1). CAS – Afrocarp hackberry forest with Coffea arabica; PSS – mid-mountain forest with prevalence of Syzygium and Pouteria; BS – bamboo belt with prevalence of Oldeania alpina; AA – Afroalpine high-mountain belt; EN – heather belt; HJN – Hagenia-juniper forest; AJN – Afrocarp-juniper forest with Hagenia abyssinica.

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