A Classroom Visit

       Last week Dr. Hanselman, a biology professor at Westfield State University, talked to my class about her research in paleoecology and palynology.  Looking at proxies, such as vegetation pollen, give insight to past climates in areas around the world.  The presence of pollen in core samples indicates what vegetation is, and was, around the lakes.  Pollens can be washed into lakes through rain runoff or blown into the area by means of wind movement.
       Pollen species have certain details such as pore spaces, textures, and grooves that can be used for identification.  Pollen from pine trees is in the shape of a mickey-mouse head.  Some species, such as polylepis, is used as an indicator plant because it can only grow in specific conditions.  It is also seen to grow during the beginning and ending of interglacial times, but isn’t present at the peak of interglacials.  Nowadays pollen samples of this species are lower due to harvesting by native peoples.
       Dr. Hanselman talked about a specific sample that she did at Lake Titicaca, which is between Bolivia and Peru.  Through analysis of the core samples that were taken from the lake she was able to see that most glacial taxa are the same and that most interglacial taxa are the same.  During the glacial times there is a decrease in both pollen and charcoal found in samples while during the interglacial times there is an increase in pollen and charcoal, which indicates a warmer and dryer time.  

More information about Dr. Hanselman can be found here: http://biology.westfield.ma.edu/faculty-and-staff/jenniferhanselman