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Vegetation History

Birch pollen

This is the study of the plant life of the past as preserved in the fossil record, including the spore/pollen record.

Plant biodiversity is very sensitive to environmental change, especially climate change. The study of vegetation history is a powerful tool for revealing how our world has changed through time.

The fossil record also helps us understand the evolutionary history of plant life, and the relationships between different groups of plants. Such work therefore complements the study of modern plant biodiversity, giving it the fourth dimension of time.

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