Neotropical plant reproductive strategies and fossil pollen representation

A high potential for outcrossing is suggested to be the key reproductive character that determines representation of taxa in palynological records. In the tropics, where anemophily is a rare condition (ca. 2.5% of all trees), a disproportionate number of the most common pollen types found in sediment are anemophilous (ca. 27%). However, entomophilous species are not all underrepresented, as monoecious and dioecious species pollinated by small insects were also abundant in pollen records (73% of taxa in the most abundant pollen classes). A ranking of reproductive characters leading to outcrossing is suggested to predict the representation of pollen taxa within a pollen spectrum.