Use of pollen assemblages as forensic evidence in non-seasonal high-altitude soils.
Sci Justice
; 64(1): 73-80, 2024 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38182315
ABSTRACT
Forensic palynology is a tool in criminalistics that uses spores and pollen grains to link a certain geographical location with a crime scene. The comparison of the pollen assemblage of a crime-scene soil and that of footwear of suspects and victims proved to be very useful as judicial evidence in multiple environments with marked seasonality. However, its usefulness in non-seasonal high-altitude soils has not been experimentally evaluated to the same extent. For this reason, the present study addressed this information gap by undertaking a palynological study in areas with high crime rates in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. To do this, we carried out multiple experimental samplings in three locations with different types of soil and different degrees of urbanization. Specifically, we compared whether the vegetation present at the time of taking the reference samples, was reflected in the pollen rain. Results showed that the vast majority of the species present in the vegetation were found in the pollen rain, with the exception of some plant species with entomophilous pollination syndrome. We also show that the transfer between assemblages from pollen rain to footwear happened effectively, which helped identify their geographical origin, and unveiled a great number of useful indicator species.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pólen
/
Altitude
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Justice
Assunto da revista:
JURISPRUDENCIA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Bolívia