The Power Paleoecology Laboratory is housed within the new Natural History Museum of Utah. The Power Lab offers a variety of contract services for paleoecological analysis including vegetation and fire reconstructions.
Plant Identification The Garrett Herbarium is able to identify plant specimens using the collection for reference material as well as the Garrett Herbarium Library collections.
Vegetation History Analysis
We utilized several paleoproxies to reconstruct changes in past vegetation composition. The primary methods we use are pollen analysis and phytolith analysis. The analysis and distribution of the composition and abundance of different pollen types can be used to infer past vegetation and climatic change.
Phytolith analysis can also be used to infer past vegetation composition and climatic variability. Pollen and phytolith analysis sampled in conjunction compliment each other in that phytoliths tend to preserve well when pollen does not and vice versa.
Fire History Reconstruction Macrocharcoal preserved in sediment cores can be analyzed to determine variability in past fire activity and biomass burning. Continuous sampling of sediments enables the assessment of the frequency of charcoal peak events or episodes which can be used to infer past fire regimes.
Tree Ring Analysis
Dendrochronology is based on the analysis of tree rings. It can be used to date the time at which rings where formed as well as the climate conditions during the ring formation.
Analysis
On-Campus Price
Off-Campus Price
Pollen
$120
$140
Phytolith
$45
$65
Charcoal
$45
$65
Diatoms
$230
$250
LOI
$7
$10
Macrofossil ID
$20
$30
Dendrochronology
TBD
TDB
Botanical Survey
TBD
TBD
Imaging
TBD
TBD
TBD: To Be Determined
Please Contact Mitchell Power for more information regarding sample analysis and submission.