Question

What are the uses and benefits of pollen keys?

Answer 1

Answer: The study of fossil and modern pollen assemblages provides essential information about vegetation dynamics in space and time. A major methodological component of these studies is the identification of pollen grains to plant family, genus and species. This identification is achieved through the use of pollen keys and reference collections of physical specimens, which are regional in scope, disparate and incomplete, slowing the identification process.The pollen identification keys and the terminology used by palynologists are quite complicated and can be intimidating to beginners and non-specialists at first. Through the palynology we can get tremendous knowledge from a little material in a short time. Palynology is used in several applications such as a survey of atmospheric pollen, spore production and the archaeological excavation of shipwrecks. The earliest investigation to use the morphological diversity of pollen directly concerned with the classification of plants. Lindau  used a greater number of pollen characters including shape and ornamentation as well as aperture number, to define a range of pollen types.

                           Several possible names are given, from which the appropriate name should be chosen. Once the pollen type has been identified correctly, a list of the morphological features used for the identification of the pollen type is shown. This list is intended as a learning aid.Morphology of pollen is involved in solving some taxonomic problems on the family, generic or specific level and has become part of the multidisciplinary and collaborative approach in plant systematic and evolution. The sculpturing of the exine and the constant features make pollen grains appreciably recognizable feature through which parent genera or even species can be recognized.