中文摘要：

以孢粉、植硅体等为代表的植物微体遗存由于其分布广泛,容易保存,可反映母体植物类型的优点,在第四纪环境研究中得到了广泛应用。本文介绍了植物微体遗存的概念、常见类型,以及它们的提取方法和原理,综述了利用植物微体遗存重建古环境的传统方法和近年来发展的几种古植被与古气候定量重建方法,最后简述了植物微体遗存在年代测定、稳定同位素分析研究上的应用进展与实例。文末指出了现有研究方法的问题与不足,并对今后的多代用指标的综合研究提出了展望。

英文摘要：

Background, aim, and scope Plant microfossils, such as sporopollen, phytoliths, starch grains and charcoals, have been widely used in Quaternary environmental research due to their features of huge quantity, wide distribution and easy preservation. However, review articles on plant microfossils in China so far have not been systematic and comprehensive enough. In this paper, key types, extraction methods and application examples in Quaternary environmental research of plant microfossils are reviewed and analyzed, and the prospects on integrated multi-proxy studies are proposed. Materials and methods Ferns spores and pollen of seed plants are collectively referred to as sporopollen, and they can be identified and categorized in different parent plants by comparing their morphologies. By analyzing the types and composition ratios of sporopollen in sedimentary strata, the vegetation composition, precipitation and temperature in the historical period may become available. Some plants such as grasses can form a type of silica-plant microfossils called phytolith, which can be preserved in the soil after its death. Different plants can form distinct or similar forms of phytolith, so phytolith can also be used in Quaternary research. Similarly, starch grains of different plants have their own characteristics and are a basis for the identification of plant species. So starch grains are expected to be used in Quaternary research, especially in archaeology. In the oceans, lakes, wetlands and other sediments, a large number of micro-algaes, such as diatoms, Charophytes oogonia, dinoflagellates, Pediastrum may appear, which are complex and diverse, and they can be categorized in the plant microfossils too. Generally, during the analytic process of sporopollen, charcoals and fungal spores can be found. Charcoals are commonly used in the study on the history of fire. Fungal spores can implicate some certain environmental information. Furthermore, some plants contain calcium oxalate crystals, which are similar to phytoliths and