The purpose of this papar was to obtaln some data about paleoenvironments and paleoc1lmates of the last millenia In the region of Parque Nacional de Aparados da Serra, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.Thls pari< is situated at a height of about 1,000 m, lat 29 ·15' -29· 25' S and long. 50· 00'-50· 15'W. Its vegetation today is subtropical, where fields predominate and on whieh, IIké a mosaic, grow Araucarla forests. Ar. the lower parts of the fields there are peats. The reglon conslsts of basaltlc rocks. MATERIAL ANO METHOOSThe profile of lhe sediments of a peat were coUected using a HUler sampler severa! times.This profUe consisted of 343 em of peat anel 126 cm of the gray clay layer directly uneler It.Thirty seven samples of 2 9 eaeh were taken trom this profiJe at regular Intervals. The chemical processing was accorcling to the tradltional melhod, after FAEGRI & IVERSEN (1975), anel slldes were made after SALGADO-LABOURIAU (1973).The quantitatlve poIlen analysis Is expressed In percentage (Flg. 1), anel In absolute values (Flg. 2), wlth lhe use of Lycopodium clavatum tablets, after STOCKMARR (1971). The countlng was of 500 gralns In eaeh sample, leavlng out ali typic poIlen matter of today's vegetatlon on thls peat and this was counted S6parately. Thus, the percentage of each one of the autochtonous elements were caleulated lUniversldade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91500 -Porto Alegre, Brazil.

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Fungi, algae, and other palynomorphs in sedimentary profiles collected from two forests in the northernmost coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil). We present, for the first time, taxonomic descriptions of 13 fungi, eight algae, three acritarchs, and nine other palynomorphs preserved in two Quaternary sediment profiles: Pirataba forest site (29°15 0 S-49°51 0 W) and Faxinal forest site (29°21 0 S-49°45 0 W), Torres Municipality, northernmost coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. We aimed to provide taxonomic reference material for paleoenvironmental studies in the region. The profiles were collected using a Hiller Sampler, with a maximum interval of the last 23,000 years (according to radiocarbon dating). The samples were processed using HCl, HF, KOH, and acetolysis. Prepared specimens were examined by light microscopy. The palynomorphs were found during counts of a minimum of 300 angiosperms pollen grains in each sample (minimum number determined by plotting saturation curves). We present descriptions and illustrations of palynomorphs and relevant ecological data for the taxa. The high taxonomic diversity found will enable further studies of the vegetation and climatic changes on the northern coastal plain of southern Brazil.

Pollen grains preserved in sediments are excellent for paleoenvironmental reconstitution because they indicate the plant origin and its environment. For such reconstitutions, reference palynological catalogs serve as the basis for the taxonomic determination of such preserved material. This study was performed to provide reference pollen for future paleoenvironmental studies. Here, we present taxonomic descriptions of 35 angiosperm pollen taxa, extracted from two Quaternary sedimentary profiles: Pirataba forest profile (29°15 0 S-49°51 0 W) and Faxinal forest profile (29°21 0 S-49°45 0 W), Torres Municipality, extreme northern coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, corresponding to the last 23,000 years according to radiocarbon dating. Ecological data and pollen illustrations accompany the taxonomic descriptions. The analysis provided distinct reference pollen taxa from varied habitats for paleoenvironmental studies of the last millennia in deposits of the coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil.