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A palynological analysis of a marine sediment core in the southern Philippines, provides a detailed regional vegetation and climate history for the West Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Chronology was determined by a detailed oxygen isotope record. A higher representation of pollen from tropical upper montane rainforest during the LGM indicate that this forest type moved down along elevation, probabaly due to the lowered temperature. During the last deglaciation and the early Holocene, mangroves were more expanded and tropical mid and upper montane rainforests were restricted, suggesting a rising sea-level and temperature increase. Herbaceous pollen and pteridophyte spore records indicate a much drier condition during the LGM than the Holocene. Mangrove development is controlled by conditions at the river mouth influenced by river discharge. Pteridophyte spores are abundant in wet conditions and are mainly transported by rivers. During the mid-Holocene, the reduction in mangrove pollen and pteridophyte spore appears to be a result of climate change: mainly decrease in river discharge. This may have been affected by the decreasing intensity of the Southeast Asian Monsoon, and the increasing frequency and intensity of warm ENSO events, El Niño, in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen grains deposited in marine sediments are transported from land to sea by wind or surface water flows. We analyzed pollen collected from the air and seawater from the coast of the Yellow Sea near China and into the western Pacific Ocean between December 2008 and January 2009 during the cruise 'KX08-973'. Results showed that abundant pollen grains of Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae were probably transported to the continental shelf of the East China Sea, the East Philippine Sea and the equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean by the winter monsoon. Some pollen may have even traveled over 2000 km from the East Asia continent to the tropical Pacific Ocean. However, a gradual decline of temperate components and an increase in tropical components was observed towards the tropical regions. Fern spores were rare in the air samples, but much more abundant in seawater samples, even though they were collected in nearly the same areas, which indicates that most fern spores were carried to the ocean by flowing water. These results suggest that the winter monsoon may be the major pollen carrier and transporter in the study area during winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]