The goal of the PMP is to use pollen traps to monitor pollen deposition across vegetation from closed forest to open situations under as natural conditions, as possible, as a basis for interpreting fossil pollen spectra.

The use of pollen traps enables the calculation of pollen influx, (not just pollen percentages), which provides a more objective basis for interpreting the local vegetation. With an accumulated database of influx values for the major tree species and the ecologically significant shrub and herb species of Europe, the interpretation of pollen diagrams could be much more precise, particularly for those periods or situations where there is a change from unforested to forested conditions or vice versa. Guidelines for vegetation mapping can be found here.

Map over active pollentrapping sites.