EVALUATION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CLIMATE DYNAMICS THROUGH DISPERSED POLLEN IN CURZON HALL CAMPUS, BANGLADESH

Pollen is the reproductive agent of flowering plant species which is transferred from plants through the process of dispersion. Dispersion of pollen is controlled by the dynamic interaction of meteorological parameters that can eventually cause modification of pollen morphology. Studying the dispersion mechanism of pollen grains as well as their morphology can provide detailed insight into the climate dynamics existing in any region at a certain time. For this study, fresh pollen samples have been collected directly from the flowers of 45 species classified under 28 families of flowering plants available in the Curzon Hall campus of Dhaka University. Morphological description including size, shape, symmetry, polarity, aperture, and exine ornamentation of each pollen grain has been provided along with light micrographs. For observing dispersed pollen, samples have been collected from dust settled on the rooftops of 4 different buildings inside the campus. 22 types of pollen grains have been found in the dust samples and 15 of them have been identified. Parent plants of 13 out of 15 identified species have been located inside the campus. The occurrence of the remaining 2 species inside the campus is the result of long-range dispersion from external plants. Grass pollen, specifically the Poaceae group dominates in the identified pollens with 10.24% of occurrence among all the identified grains. The trajectory of wind transportation has been speculated by connecting source plants with deposition points. The mean direction of the ambient wind has been detected towards NE and SE. By analyzing the basic principles of pollen dispersion which are correlated with meteorological parameters, the current condition of temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation has been speculated qualitatively. Temperature level has been observed to be low to moderate accompanied by low relative humidity with almost zero incidence of precipitation. This attempt of performing a multidimensional application of palynology in plant identification and deduction of active climatic variables inside the Curzon Hall campus aims to establish a precise relationship between pollen dispersion and meteorological parameters of the area. It also intends to prove the practicality of palynology as well as the importance of dispersed pollens in the general procedure of evaluating climate dynamics.