NEOTROPICAL PLANT REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES AND FOSSIL POLLEN REPRESENTATION

A high potential for outcrossing is suggested to be the key reproducti ve character that determines representation of taxa in palynological r ecords. In the tropics, where anemophily is a rare condition (ca. 2.5% of all trees), a disproportionate number of the most common pollen ty pes found in sediment are anemophilous (ca. 27%). However, entomophilo us species are not all underrepresented, as monoecious and dioecious s pecies pollinated by small insects were also abundant in pollen record s (73% of taxa in the most abundant pollen classes). A ranking of repr oductive characters leading to outcrossing is suggested to predict the representation of pollen taxa within a pollen spectrum.