Many lake basins accumulate sediments which can provide precious records of environmental change extending back decades, centuries and millenia. The study of lake sediments (palaeolimnology) involves the analysis and dating of physical, chemical, and biological remains in sediment core sequences. Such approaches can provide vital “missing information” to understand aquatic ecosystem dynamics pre-dating the start of monitoring programmes or in sites where limited environmental information exists. Palaeolimnology is ideal for understanding ecological processes that occur over longer timescales and is particularly useful in remote and developing regions where environmental monitoring programmes are scarce. In this seminar I will provide some examples of recent and ongoing work demonstrating how palaeolimnology has been applied to understand the timescales, causes and ecological consequences of lake eutrophication, hydrological modification in floodplain systems and “lake browning” in Arctic, temperate and tropical regions.
More information: NIOO.Seminars@nioo.knaw.nl