Potential in Palaeoecological Reconstruction from Modern Pollen Calibrations along the Kukrail Reserve Forest, Central Ganga Plain, India

Deciphering past vegetation composition can be upgraded by examining modern pollen rain and extant vegetation. Here, we compare pollen dataset of 15 surface soil samples from the forested area and open-land and crop-land areas of the Kukrail Reserve Forest, to understand the association between the modern pollen dispersal and the vegetation cover in the Central Ganga Plain. The palynoassemblage recovered from the surface soil displays the tropical moist and dry deciduous woodland comprising Syzygium, Butea, Holoptelea, Terminalia, Emblica , Sapotaceae and Meliaceae indicating warm and humid climate in response to rainfall heterogeneity in the study site. Extensive pollen morphological studies have also been conducted on 15 selected plant taxa for generating the modern pollen flora from this region, which could aid in the accurate identification of fossil pollen. It has been observed that a significant correlation can be seen between the local herbaceous vegetation and pollen data. The excessive incidence of anthropogenic marker pollen (cereal, average value: 17.26%) alongside with cultural pollen taxa like Brassica, Coriandrum and Solanaceae demarcate agricultural impact around the region. The multivariate statistical analysis like box-plot and principal component analysis signifies a sizable dissimilitude and similarity in pollen spectra from different depositional sites. Careful interpretation of past vegetation extent using fossil pollen assemblages is required, especially when the vegetation is treeless (open-land and crop-land areas) due to the fact that a large potential of pollen-source region and subsequently a higher percentage of long-distance anemophilous pollen have been recorded. Therefore, this study has been initiated to analyse recent pollen dispersal and preservation in various depositional settings of tropical reserve forest. Moreover, the account on cultural and anthropogenic pollen indicator could provide valuable insights into the extent of agricultural practices and the degradation of pristine forests and surrounding areas. Thus, the present pollen data would aid in accurately understanding the palaeoecological changes in the tropical forests and surrounding regions of Central Ganga Plain.