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Anemophily

Definition

Wind pollination. Anemophilous plants produce vast quantities of lightweight, smooth or finely sculpted pollen designed for long-distance aerial transport. Grasses, birch, oak, and pine are familiar examples. High background levels in air make individual grains less specific as provenance markers.

Related terms

Entomophily
Insect pollination. Entomophilous plants produce sticky, often echinate pollen in smaller quantities. Because it is not designed for aerial travel it does...
Local signal
Pollen from plants growing very close to the sampling point, contributing taxa or proportions that deviate from the regional airborne background and...
Pollen rain
The continuous deposition of airborne pollen onto surfaces in a landscape. Pollen rain reflects regional vegetation and season. It forms the interpretive...
Sporopollenin
The highly chemically inert polymer forming the outer wall (exine) of pollen grains and spores. Resistant to acid, alkali, oxidation, and biological...
Taphonomy
The systematic modification of bone by environmental processes after death, operating over the burial or exposure interval. Includes weathering, soil staining, sun...

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