Historical lessons for the future

Chapter presents examples illustrating the use of palynological data at various spatial scales, and with varying temporal resolution, to address conservation problems. they show evidence of changes in communities at various scales, of the degree of permanence of particular communities, of the former character of the vegetation in particular localities, of the transient nature of some past communities and of the mechanisms of response to broad-scale environmental chagnes. Because few examples of small-scale palynological studies that address conservaiton problems have been published, and because many conservation efforts will continue to be directed towards individuals sites, account are given of several such studies. In contrast, many of the broad-scale results have already been published and so only the major conclusions are presented here. However, it is from thse conclusions that the most important implications for conservaiton arise, calling into question current strategies that focus primarily upon the establishment of nature reserves at sites that are today occupied by particular organisms or communities. It is also at the broad scale that palynological data can contribute to current research related to global environmental change and to global conservation.