The modern pollen spectra for Eucalyptus forest and rainforest communities were investigated from 19
sites in the Robertson area on the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. Cluster and discriminant
analyses were applied to analyse pollen distribution from within and from outside warm temperate
rainforest stands and tall open eucalypt forest stands. Pollen abundance is compared with a number
of plant abundance estimates of taxa within forests to study pollen representation at the forest scale.
Pollen of Doryphora, Polyosma, Pittosporum, Hymenanthera, Tasmannia, Asclepiadaceae and
most rainforest taxa investigated are poorly represented, while sclerophyll and open-ground taxa, particularly
Eucalyptus, are better represented. The pollen of many native taxa do not appear to be well
dispersed, and local pollen is commonly outweighed by pollen from regional sources. Pollen representation
varied between taxa and sites, with factors such as vegetation structure, plant distribution, topography
and disturbance influencing pollen representation.