Pollens

The botany department studies climate change through the analysis of vegetation.

Several studies examining fragments of fruit, leaves and bark dating back to the Palaeolithic era have enabled the creation of an important reference collection. This work provides insight into the climate change of a region and helps interpret the elements discovered at an archaeological site.

Knowledge of pollen is also useful for measuring its presence in the air (allergy risks) and in honey or other products. It is also used in criminology to understand a crime scene.

Pollen image collection
Pollen is identified using keys and by comparison with illustrations. The Naturéum has a large collection of microscope photographs of pollen. This collection and others (Villaret collection, Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Rachoud-Schneider), as well as a series of electron microscope images (Fakan and Germond), have enabled the creation of an online image database (BasePollen-LAU) available to researchers and interested parties.