Doctoral Dissertation Research: Pollen Dispersal and Deposition on Tropical Andean Ice Caps: Quelccaya, Peru, and Nevada Sajama, Bolivia

热带冰芯孢粉学新科学的最新进展表明，在高山冰川和极地冰盖的冰芯中发现的化石花粉可以为过去的植被和气候变化提供敏感的记录。然而，迄今为止，这项科学研究是在热带高山环境中进行的，没有充分了解花粉的传播和沉积特征；对冰芯孢粉记录进行可靠和准确解释的关键因素。本博士论文研究项目将研究秘鲁奎尔卡亚和玻利维亚内华达萨哈马热带安第斯冰盖上花粉传播和沉积的模式和过程。该项目将分析在冰盖本身和周围植被带中发现的现代花粉。除了冰帽，还将从安第斯山脉中部的主要植被带以及亚高山和低地地区（延伸到太平洋）和东部（进入亚马逊低地）收集花粉表面样本。生物地理学表面花粉研究将有助于解决传播模式、花粉来源、区域花粉雨特征、冰芯花粉记录的敏感性等问题，以及这些因素如何反映在冰帽上发现的花粉分布和组合中。该项目将促进对快速发展的冰芯孢粉学领域的基本认识。它将为安第斯山脉中部及其附近的植被变化提供新的见解，从而补充其他来源的数据，这些数据正在研究该地区的环境变化。该项目将通过拓宽对该地区花粉、植被和气候之间现代关系的认识，进一步提高未来安第斯山脉中部花粉研究的有效性，从而为推导花粉-气候传递函数和响应面奠定基础。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Recent developments in the new science of tropical ice-core palynology have demonstrated that the fossil pollen found in ice cores drawn from alpine glaciers and polar ice caps can provide sensitive records of past vegetational and climatic changes. To date, however, this science has been done in tropical alpine environments without the full understanding of pollen dispersal and depositional characteristics; a key factor for a reliable and accurate interpretation of ice-core palynological records. This doctoral dissertation research project will study the patterns and processes of pollen dispersal and deposition on the tropical Andean ice caps of Quelccaya in Peru and Nevada Sajama in Bolivia. This project will analyze the modern pollen found on the ice caps themselves and in the surrounding vegetation zones. Aside from the ice caps, pollen surface samples will be collected from the major vegetation zones in the central Andes as well as from the subalpine and lowland zones to the west (extending to the Pacific Ocean) and east (into the Amazon lowlands). A biogeographical surface pollen study will help address questions of dispersal patterns, pollen provenance, regional pollen-rain signatures, sensitivity of the ice-core pollen records, and how each of these factors are reflected in the distribution and assemblages of pollen found on the ice caps.This project will advance fundamental understandings in the rapidly growing field of ice-core palynology. It will provide new insights into vegetation change in and near the central Andes, thereby complementing data from other sources that is examining environmental change in the region. The project will further the effectiveness of future pollen studies in the central Andes by broadening knowledge about modern relationships among pollen, vegetation, and climate in the region, thus laying the groundwork for the derivation of pollen-climate transfer functions and response surfaces. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.