Our lab studies the influence of climate on the composition, structure and long-term evolution of lowland Neotropical plant communities. We use the fossil pollen record to document plant response to past climate variability. Pollen and spores are abundant, resist degradation, and are found at the bottom of most water bodies, past or present. Because pollen and spores tend to be so widespread in the terrestrial sediment record, we are able to use these microscopic fossils to study long-term trends in plant ecology and evolution.
