Data from: Taxonomic assessment of opal phytoliths from grasses of deltaic West Bengal, India

In the present study, taxonomic potential of opal phytoliths was examined in grasses from lower Gangetic delta, West Bengal, India. The study revealed that finer classification of phytoliths can increase the efficacy of opal silica as taxonomic proxy by minimizing the influences of multiplicity and redundancy. 187 phytolith sub-morphotypes, categorized under 10 major groups were isolated from 110 grass species belonging to 45 genera, 21 sub-tribes, 13 tribes, and 7 subfamilies. Cluster and correspondence analyses showed that all the significantly represented subfamilies can be clearly distinguished on the basis of either principal morphotypes or sub-morphotypes. However, genus/species level discrimination may only be possible by deploying phytolith based identification key developed by utilizing detailed grass phytolith micro-morphometry and frequency attributes. We conclude that grass phytolith characteristics provide useful and significant information for distinguishing grass taxa of deltaic West Bengal.本研究针对印度西孟加拉邦恒河下游三角洲区域的禾本科植物，探究了蛋白石植硅体（opal phytoliths）的分类学潜力。研究结果表明，对植硅体（phytoliths）进行精细化分类，可通过最小化多重性与冗余性的影响，提升蛋白石二氧化硅作为分类代用指标的效能。本研究从隶属于7个亚科、13个族、21个亚族、45个属的110个禾本科物种中，分离得到了归为10个大类的187种植硅体亚形态型（phytolith sub-morphotypes）。聚类分析（cluster analysis）与对应分析（correspondence analysis）结果显示，所有具有显著代表性的禾本科亚科，均可通过其主要形态型或亚形态型实现清晰区分。不过，若要实现属或物种水平的分类鉴别，则需借助基于详细禾本科植硅体显微形态计量学（micro-morphometry）与频率特征所构建的植硅体分类检索表（identification key）。本研究最终得出结论：禾本科植硅体特征可为区分西孟加拉邦三角洲地区的禾本科类群提供极具价值与统计学显著性的信息。