Hemacytometer pollen counting

Knowledge graph centered on Hemacytometer pollen counting with 75 nodes and 215 connections. Top connected: Hummingbird, Bombus, Ipomopsis, Ligusticum porteri, Delphinium.

Method synopsis

Collection and microscopic analysis of pollen grains deposited on wildflower stigmas using pink fuchsin gel mounting and reference collection for identification. Quantifies both conspecific and heterospecific pollen deposition.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 49 papers using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — Hydrologic connectivity shapes watershed response to climate variability from local to global scales (2025). The protocol was originally introduced by The effects of ungulate herbivory and nutrient variation on pollen reciept in Ipomopsis aggregata (2002). Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Weekly flower tagging
   At the beginning of each week, flowers were tagged with small paper jewelry tags tied below the flower for later collection. Two categories were tagged: flowers for stigma pollen collection and flowers for seed set assessment. Eligible flowers included open flowers that had not yet lost their anthers and floral buds about to open.
   Quantities: 60-90 flowers tagged for stigma collection, 20-30 flowers tagged for seed set per population per weekDuration: Weekly from June 26 through July 30, 2001Conditions: During flowering season, tags placed at beginning of each week
   Equipment: small paper jewelry tags, ties or string
2. Stigma collection and processing
   Flowers marked for stigma pollen counts were collected 2-3 days after tagging, after petals had wilted and dropped. In the lab, stigmas were removed with fine forceps and squashed on microscope slides in basic fuchsin gel. Stained pollen grains adhering to stigmas were counted under a compound microscope at 100x magnification.
   Quantities: 2-3 day collection interval, 100x microscope magnificationDuration: 2-3 days after tagging for collection, lab processing time not specifiedConditions: After petals had wilted and dropped, lab conditions for microscope work
   Equipment: fine forceps, microscope slides, basic fuchsin gel, compound microscope

Typical Equipment

• tweezers
• small eppendorf tubes
• cooler bag
• labels
• pink fuchsin gel
• glass microscope slides
• hot plate
• square microscope glass coverslips
• pencil with eraser
• marker
• compound microscope
• pollen reference collection from RMBL herbarium

Output Measurements

• conspecific pollen grain counts
• heterospecific pollen grain counts
• proportion of conspecific pollen grains

Papers Using This Protocol (51)

Species Studied With This Protocol