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Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
Published on: July 3, 2016
Climate-driven regime shifts in the biological communities of arctic lakes
John P Smol1, Alexander P Wolfe, H John B Birks
1Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory, Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. smolj@biology.queensu.ca
Abstract:
Fifty-five paleolimnological records from lakes in the circumpolar Arctic reveal widespread species changes and ecological reorganizations in algae and invertebrate communities since approximately anno Domini 1850. The remoteness of these sites, coupled with the ecological characteristics of taxa involved, indicate that changes are primarily driven by climate warming through lengthening of the summer growing season and related limnological changes. The widespread distribution and similar character of these changes indicate that the opportunity to study arctic ecosystems unaffected by human influences may have disappeared.
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