ABSTRACT
Modern pollen studies are valuable for the calibration of pollen records and contribute to the understanding of past vegetation dynamics. Here, we present a qualitative review of available published and (where possible) unpublished modern pollen studies conducted in tropical Africa since pollen analysis emerged as a discipline in the early 20th century. At present, 318modern pollen rain studies are geographically unevenly distributed across the continent. We found that most countries across tropical Africa have some modern pollen records, with East African countries being particularly well represented in both older and more recent literature. Many countries, arid regions and transitional phytochoria, however, require further study. This review is intended to guide palaeoecologists and palynologists embarking on new studies by bringing together the history of modern pollen studies conducted to date. Targeting new studies to areas where data are currently lacking will help to build a better understanding of modern pollen deposition on the continent. Moreover, we provide recommendations for designing studies so that their results can be used in quantitative modelling techniques for climate or vegetation reconstructions.
