Palynology: Extracting Pollen from Mosses and Sediments

Pollen grains are preserved in both moss cushions and sediments, but these archives differ in temporal resolution, preservation conditions, and extraction protocols. Moss cushions typically reflect recent pollen deposition (a few months to ~10 years), whereas sediments archive long-term pollen spectra. Each archive, differing in matrix composition, requires tailored methodological protocols for efficient and reproducible pollen extraction. In this chapter, we provide a synthesis of the standard procedures, based on what is largely in use and adopted to better concentrate pollen and other palynomorphs, detailing chemical treatments, materials, and references of existing literature for pollen extraction and analysis. The chapter describes the general guidelines for pollen extraction from mosses and sediments, also referring to the special case of sediment samples in forensic sciences.