Understanding social-ecological system dynamics is a major research priority for sustainable management of landscapes, ecosystems and resources. But the lack of multi-decadal records represents an important gap in information that hinders the development of the research agenda. Without improved information on the long-term and complex interactions between causal factors and responses, it will be difficult to answer key questions about trends, rates of change, tipping points, safe operating spaces and pre-impact conditions. Where available longterm monitored records are too short or lacking, palaeoenvironmental sciences may provide

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In contrast to the East Asian and African monsoons the

The aim of the study was to use melissopalynology to delineate the foraging preferences of bees in tropical environs. This was done by comparing pollen spectra obtained from the same hives every three months for three years at four sampling locations (in two sites) within a confined landscape mosaic. If melissopalynology is highly replicable, the spatial variation of the pollen spectrum from the honey samples would be much more than the temporal (inter-annual) variations. In other words, given the three factors, Month, Year and Location, honey pollen from different Locations, in a given Year and Month, would be much less similar than samples from different Years, in a given Location and Month. We then determined how the factors, Month, Year and Location, influenced the pollen influx of honey. The pollen analyses of the 42 honey samples collected during the three years yielded 80 pollen taxa/types: 72 dicotyledonous and 8 monocotyledonous, encompassing 41 botanical families spread into seven life forms namely, trees, shrubs, epiphytes, herbs, climbers, grasses, and sedges. Our results showed that pollen spectra were equally comparable between Locations and between Months and Years; the importance of this result is that it helped to demonstrate the complexity of ecological/environmental phenomena involved in the process of foraging by bees in a heterogeneous and complex landscape.

International audienceWe analysed the pollen content of 106 surface soil samples from evergreen and deciduous tropical forests distributed between 6 degrees and 13 degrees of latitude north in South India and Sri Lanka. The samples were collected along altitudinal gradients, ranging from 50 to 2420 m, in five regions that experience different rainfall regimes. Original pollen data from tropical vegetation subjected to seasonal monsoon rains are presented along altitude/temperature gradients. This paper includes a summarized description of the vegetation types mapped in the area. The pollen results are presented in the form of quantitative pollen diagrams and correspondence analyses. They show clear distinct pollen assemblages and markers for all types of vegetation in deciduous and evergreen vegetation. Forests are well identified by percentages of Arboreal Pollen greater than 50%, despite the fact that Dipterocarpaceae and Lauraceae are hardly recorded by pollen. The pollen distinction between low, medium and high elevation evergreen forests matches that established by ecologists. The botanical limits, respectively, placed at 900 m and 1500 m limits, correspond to the 20 degrees C and 15 degrees C-values of mean temperature of the coldest month. They appear clearly identified in the modern pollen record. This justifies further use of pollen data in Biome modelling