Modern influences on chironomid distribution in western Ireland: potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

Ireland provides a unique setting for the study of past climates, as its climate is dominated by westerly airflow from the North Atlantic and readily responsive to changes in North Atlantic circulation patterns. Although there has been substantial research on Ireland’s past environments, quantitative palaeolimnological research, especially chironomid-based research, has been lacking. In order to further develop chironomid-based palaeolimnological investigations, a calibration set was constructed to determine the dominant environmental controls on modern chironomids in western Ireland. Chironomid subfossils were collected from surface sediments of 50 lakes. The lakes were characterised with 36 environmental variables, including physical attributes, lake water characteristics, lake sediment characteristics and land cover within each catchment. In this exploratory study, no specific environmental variable was targeted and lakes were chosen to span gradients of latitude, elevation, depth and trophic status. Redundancy analysis showed that six environmental variables—mean July air temperature, lake depth, dissolved organic carbon, and percentage catchment land cover of agriculture, peat bog and scrubland—captured a large and statistically significant portion of the variance in the chironomid data. July temperature and agricultural land cover were the most dominant environmental variables, with July temperature proving the most suitable for inference model development. A classical weighted-averaging model was developed to estimate July air temperature, with a coefficient of determination (r _jack ² ) of 0.60 and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.57 °C. Results suggest that summer temperature is the dominant influence on chironomid distribution across a wide variety of lake types, and the relatively small RMSEP should allow for more accurate reconstructions of Ireland’s relatively subdued Holocene temperature fluctuations.     

The modern distribution of chironomid sub-fossils (Insecta: Diptera) in the Sierra Nevada, California: Potential for paleoclimatic reconstructions

Surface lake sediment was recovered from 57 lakes along an elevation gradient in the central, eastern Sierra Nevada of California. The surface sediment was analysed for subfossil chironomid remains in order to assess the modern distribution of chironomids in the region. The lakes sampled for the calibration dataset were between 2.0 and 40.0 m in depth, spanned an altitudinal gradient of 1360 m and a surface water temperature gradient of approximately 14 °C. Redundancy analysis (RDA) identified that five of the measured environmental variables – surface water temperature, elevation, depth, strontium, particulate organic carbon – accounted for a statistically significant amount of the variance in chironomid community composition. Quantitative transfer functions, based on weighted-averaging (WA), partial least squares (PLS) and weighted-averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS), were developed to estimate surface water temperature from the chironomid assemblages. The best model was a WA model with classical deshrinking, which had a relatively high coefficient of determination (r² = 0.73), low root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP = 1.2 °C) and a low maximum bias (0.90 °C). The results from this study suggest that robust quantitative estimates of past surface water temperature can be derived from the application of these models to fossil chironomid assemblages preserved in late-Quaternary lake sediment in this region.     

Subfossil chironomid variability in surface sediment samples from Icelandic lakes: implications for the development and use of training sets

A suite of surface sediment samples from three Icelandic lakes was analysed for subfossil chironomid head capsules, and a quantitative July air temperature inference model was applied to the data to investigate whether there was significant variability among samples taken from a lake. Ordination and simple regression methods were used to analyse the relationships between environmental and sedimentological variables and the chironomid assemblages and inferred temperature data. Substrate was the most important influence on the chironomid assemblages and inferred temperatures, while water depth at the sampling location had no relationship with the chironomid-inferred temperatures. Within-lake variability of the chironomid assemblages and their inferred temperatures, however, were not significant statistically, suggesting that in lakes of western and northwest Iceland within-lake sampling location has no effect on the data obtained, and therefore on training set samples.     

Modern diatom, cladocera, chironomid, and chrysophyte cyst assemblages as quantitative indicators for the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in the Alps. I. Climate

Diatom, chrysophyte cyst, benthic cladocera, planktonic cladocera, and chironomid assemblages were studied in the surface sediments of 68 small lakes along an altitudinal gradient from 300 to 2350 m in Switzerland. In addition, 43 environmental variables relating to the physical limnology, geography, catchment characteristics, climate, and water chemistry were recorded or measured for each lake. The explanatory power of each of these predictor variables for the different biological data-sets was estimated by a series of canonical correspondence analyses (CCA) and the statistical significance of each model was assessed by Monte Carlo permutation tests. A minimal set of environmental variables was found for each biological data-set by a forward-selection procedure within CCA. The unique, independent explanatory power of each set of environmental variables was estimated by a series of CCAs and partial CCAs. Inference models or transfer functions for mean summer (June, July, August) air temperature were developed for each biological data-set using weighted-averaging partial least squares or partial least squares. The final transfer functions, after data screening, have root mean squared errors of prediction, as assessed by leave-one-out cross-validation, of 1.37 °C (chironomids), 1.60 °C (benthic cladocera), 1.62 °C (diatoms), 1.77 °C (planktonic cladocera), and 2.23 °C (chrysophyte cysts).     

Chironomids as indicators of climate change: a 100‐lake training set from a subarctic region of northern Sweden (Lapland)

Multivariate numerical analyses (DCA, CCA) were used to study the distribution of chironomids from surface sediments of 100 lakes spanning broad ecoclimatic conditions in northern Swedish Lapland. The study sites range from boreal forest to alpine tundra and are located in a region of relatively low human impact. Of the 19 environmental variables measured, ordination by CCA identified mean July air temperature as one of the most significant variables explaining the distribution and the abundance of chironomids. Lossonignition (LOI), maximum lake depth and mean January air temperature also accounted for significant variation in chironomid assemblages. A quantitative transfer function was created to estimate mean July air temperature from sedimentary chironomid assemblages using weightedaveraging partial least squares regression (WAPLS). The coefficient of determination was relatively high (r² = 0.65) with root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP, based on jack-knifing) of 1.13 °C and maximum bias of 2.1 °C, indicating that chironomids can provide useful quantitative estimates of past changes in mean July air temperature. The paper focuses mainly on the relationship between chironomid composition and July air temperature, but the relationship to LOI and depth are also discussed.     

Diatom assemblages from Costa Rican lakes: an initial ecological assessment

We compared the distributions of 59 diatom species in surface sediments of 25 Costa Rican lakes with 21 environmental variables using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The distribution of taxa was related to the chemical and physical characteristics of the lakes. The most influential chemical variables were cation concentrations (especially magnesium) and related variables such as water hardness, pH, and temperature. Lake area and lake depth were among the most important physical variables.A number of taxa were identified as potential environmental indicators. The diatoms Brachysira serians var. brachysira and Frustulia rhomboides seem to be associated with low values of alkalinity, hardness, Ca, Mg, and SiO2. Cymbella minuta var. silesiaca is associated with low to moderate values of alkalinity, hardness, Ca, and Mg. Nitzschia cf. amphibia may be an indicator of moderate-to-high concentrations of Mg. Pinnularia braunii var. amphicephala seems to prefer low values of hardness, Ca, Mg, and SiO2.In many closed lakes, these environmental variables (Mg/Ca/hardness/alkalinity) increase with effective evaporation. Consequently, these diatoms may be indirectly tracking P:E ratios. Results from this initial, small data set indicate the potential of diatoms for inferring lake paleochemistry, and perhaps P:E ratios, in Costa Rica.     

Environmental controls on modern chironomid faunas from NW Iceland and implications for reconstructing climate change

Reconstructing climate change quantitatively over millennial timescales is crucial for understanding the processes that affect the climate system. One of the best methods for producing high resolution, low error, quantitative summer air temperature reconstructions is through chironomid analyses. We analysed over 50 lakes from NW and W Iceland covering a range of environmental gradients in order to test whether the distribution of the Icelandic chironomid fauna was driven by summer temperature, or whether other environmental factors were more dominant. A range of analyses showed the main environmental controls on chironomid communities to be substrate (identified through loss-on-ignition and carbon content) and mean July air temperature, although other factors such as lake depth and lake area were also important. The nature of the Icelandic landscape, with numerous volcanic centres (many of which are covered by ice caps) that produce large quantities of ash, means that relative lake carbon content and summer air temperature do not co-vary, as they often do in other chironomid datasets within the Arctic as well as more temperate environments. As the chironomid–environment relationships are thus different in Iceland compared to other chironomid training sets, we suggest that using an Icelandic model is most appropriate for reconstructing past environmental change from fossil Icelandic datasets. Analogue matching of Icelandic fossil chironomid datasets with the Icelandic training set and another European chironomid training set support this assertion. Analyses of a range of chironomid-inferred temperature transfer functions suggest the best to be a two component WA-PLS model with r ² _jack = 0.66 and RMSEP = 1.095°C. Using this model, chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions of early Holocene Icelandic sequences show the magnitude of temperature change compared to contemporary temperatures to be similar to other NW European chironomid sequences, suggesting that the predictive power of the model is good.     

Paleolimnological reconstructions of Rouyn-Noranda lakes within the zone of influence of the Horne Smelter,Québec,Canada

Diatoms were identified and enumerated from a surface sediment calibration set of 50 lakes in northwestern Québec. The relationship between species composition and environmental variables was examined using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Forward selection and Monte Carlo permutation tests in CCA indicated that diatom species distributions in the data set are most strongly correlated to lakewater pH. A strong (r ² _boot = 0.83) weighted averaging calibration model, that includes bootstrapped error estimates, was developed for inferring past lakewater pH. Using this model, temporal changes in pH were reconstructed for two kettle lakes, Lac de la Pépinière and Lac Perron. Based on limnological data, both the study lakes were expected to have recently acidified due to increased acidic precipitation and increases in anthropogenic metal loading. However, our long-term pH inference data indicate that these lakes were naturally acidic during pre-industrial times. Nonetheless, the rate of acidification, particularly in Lac de la Pépinière, has accelerated in the last ∼75 years. These long-term pH records developed for the dilute lakes in northwestern Québec suggest that the region has received increased atmospheric pollutants from the nearby Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda. The pH inference profiles are markedly different from many other paleolimnological studies in acid-sensitive regions of Canada that have become acidic primarily as a result of industrial activities. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Reconstructing climate and environmental change in northern England through chironomid and pollen analyses: evidence from Talkin Tarn, Cumbria

Chironomids have been used extensively for reconstructing past temperatures from the late glacial chronozone but far less work has focused on their use as temperature proxies throughout the Holocene, and little work has been undertaken within the UK. Northern England does have many detailed palaeoclimate records, although the majority of these are reconstructions from ombrotrophic peat bogs, which yield a combined temperature and precipitation proxy record. A lake sediment core from Talkin Tarn, dating back 6000 years, was therefore analysed for chironomid remains in an attempt to produce a Holocene temperature reconstruction. Although chironomids have been shown to respond to air temperature by many modern training sets, it is also known that they can respond to other environmental factors. Pollen and loss-on-ignition analyses were therefore undertaken to ascertain whether the lake had been subjected to major environmental changes. Some anthropogenic changes in land use were detected, which may have affected the lake water chemistry and sediments, but they seem to have had little direct impact on the chironomid fauna for the majority of the record. Part of the geology of the catchment is limestone, which suggests that the lake may be buffered against any changes in pH. A chironomid-inferred mean July temperature transfer function from a Norwegian training set was applied to the chironomid data and produced a reconstruction with significant fluctuations throughout the later Holocene, which were associated with cold and warm stenotherms within the assemblages. The uppermost chironomid sample from the lake core (less than 100 years old) has a reconstructed temperature of 14.6 °C (± sample-specific error of 1.18 °C), which compares well with the contemporary mean July average of 14.8 °C. It is therefore concluded that chironomids can be used to reconstruct Holocene temperature, provided the site is well-buffered in relation to pH changes and can be shown not to have been influenced to any great extent by anthropogenic disturbance.     

A chironomid-based salinity inference model from lakes on the Tibetan Plateau

Previous studies have shown chironomids to be excellent indicators of environmental change and training sets have been developed in order to allow these changes to be reconstructed quantitatively from subfossil sequences. Here we present the results of an investigation into the relationships between surface sediment subfossil chironomid distribution and lake environmental variables from 42 lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that of the 11 measured environmental variables, salinity (measured as total dissolved solids TDS) was most important, accounting for 10.5% of the variance in the chironomid data. This variable was significant enough to allow the development of quantitative inference models. A range of TDS inference models were developed using Weighted Averaging (WA), Partial Least Squares (PLS), Weighted Averaging–Partial Least Squares (WA–PLS), Maximum Likelihood (ML), Modern Analogues Technique (MAT) and Modern Analogues Techniques weighted by similarity (WMAT). Evaluation of the site data indicated that four lakes were major outliers, and after omitting these from the training set the models produced jack-knifed coefficients of determination (r ²) between 0.60 and 0.80, and root-mean-squared errors of prediction (RMSEP) between 0.29 and 0.44 log₁₀ TDS. The best performing model was the two-component WA–PLS model with r ² _jack = 0.80 and RMSEP_jack = 0.29 log₁₀ TDS. The model results were similar to other chironomid-salinity models developed in different regions, and they also showed similar ecological groupings along the salinity gradient with respect to freshwater/salinity thresholds and community diversity. These results therefore indicate that similar processes may be controlling chironomid distribution across salinity gradients irrespective of biogeographical constraints. The performance of the transfer functions illustrates that chironomid assemblages from the Tibetan Plateau lakes are clearly sensitive indicators of salinity. The models will therefore allow the quantification of long-term records of past water salinity for lacustrine sites across the Tibetan Plateau, which has important implications for future hydrological research in the region.     

Cladoceran and chironomid assemblages as qualitative indicators of water depth in subarctic Fennoscandian lakes

The relationship between surface-sediment cladoceran and chironomid communities to lake depth was analysed in 53 lakes distributed across timberline in northern Fennoscandia using multivariate statistical approaches. The study sites are small and bathymerically simple, with water depth ranging from 0.85-27.0 m (mean 6.36 m). Maximum lake depth was the most important factor in explaining the cladoceran distributions and the second most important factor in explaining the chironomid distributions in these subarctic lakes, as assessed on the basis of a series of constrained RDAs, Monte Carlo permutation tests, and variance partitioning. Quantitative inference models for maximum lake depth were created for both groups of animals. Well-performing calibration functions for predicting lake depth were obtained in each case using linear partial least squares (PLS) regression and calibration, weighted averaging (WA) with an 'inverse' deshrinking regression, and weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS). Quantitative reconstructions of lake level fluctuations should be possible from cladoceran and chironomid core data with a root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP), as estimated by jack-knifing, of about 1.6-3.0 m.     

Sub-fossil chironomids are significant indicators of turbidity in shallow lakes of northeastern USA

Small, shallow, temperate lakes are predominant landscape features in North America, however, little is known about their long-term ecosystem dynamics, and few data exist on the chironomid fauna they harbor. Using multivariate analyses, we defined relationships between sub-fossil chironomid assemblage composition and environmental variables in 26 shallow lakes of northeastern USA and quantified how differences in taxonomic resolution affect transfer function model performance. Using redundancy analysis, we found that chironomid assemblages are best explained by turbidity, dissolved inorganic carbon and drainage basin/lake area ratio. Turbidity explained the greatest proportion of variance found in the chironomid assemblage (10.4%), followed by total nitrogen. Through ordination analyses and an analysis of similarity, we found that macrophyte density was also a significant predictor of chironomid assemblages. We used partial least squares analysis to develop a robust model for quantitative reconstruction of turbidity, with r _jack² = 0.62. When using a more coarsely resolved taxonomic dataset, we found that model performance statistics were weaker, suggesting the need for fine-resolution taxonomy. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of variables related to lake trophic state in structuring chironomid assemblages in shallow, temperate lakes and provide tools for inferring past ecological changes in these ecosystems.     

The Dynamics of Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) Assemblages in Response to Environmental Change during the past 700 years on Svalbard

The impact of recent natural and human-induced environmental change on chironomid faunas on Svalbard has been investigated. The modern chironomid fauna was studied from surface-sediment samples collected from 23 lakes in western Svalbard. A total of 18 taxa was found, of which three had not been recorded previously from Svalbard. The influence of water chemistry and physical variables on the distribution and abundance of the modern chironomid assemblages was investigated using correspondence analysis and multiple regression. The chironomid assemblages fall into four groups, which are primarily influenced by pH, nutrient concentrations, water temperature, and water depth. Sediment cores were taken from three lakes to investigate changes in chironomid assemblages over the last 700 years. At two of the sites there is evidence for a response to regional climatic change occurring about 200 years ago and may have been associated with the ‘Little Ice Age’. At the third site there is a response to local catchment changes, probably brought about, initially, by the establishment of a human settlement close to the lake 70 years ago, and subsequently, as a result of the abandonment of this settlement in 1988.     

Utility of scaled chrysophytes for inferring lakewater pH in northern New England lakes

Scaled chrysophytes in the surface sediments of 58 soft-water northern New England lakes were analyzed to assess their usefulness for inferring pH. The distributions of many taxa are correlated with lakewater pH and associated variables. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and clustering grouped chrysophyte taxa according to their distributions along the pH gradient. For example, Chrysodidymus synuroideus, Mallomonas hindonii, and M. hamata commonly occur in acidic waters (pH<5.5), whereas M. caudata and M. pseudocoronata are common in circumneutral to alkaline waters. Of the five predictive models developed to infer pH, CCA based calibration had the lowest standard error (0.35 pH units). A CCA based predictive model was also developed to infer total alkalinity. The study provides strong evidence that, in the absence of past measured pH data, stratigraphic studies of sedimentary chrysophyte scales will provide accurate reconstructions of pH in northern New England lakes.This is the sixth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D.F. Charles and D.R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.     

Intraregional variability in chironomid-inferred temperature estimates and the influence of river inundations on lacustrine chironomid assemblages

Floodplain lakes are rarely analysed for fossil chironomids and usually not incorporated in modern chironomid-climate calibration datasets because of the potential complex hydrological processes that could result from flooding of the lakes. In order to investigate this potential influence of river inundations on fossil chironomid assemblages, 13 regularly inundated lakes and 20 lakes isolated from riverine influence were sampled and their surface sediments analysed for subfossil chironomid assemblages. The physical and chemical settings of all lakes were similar, although the variation in the environmental variables was higher in the lakes isolated from riverine influence. Chironomid concentration and taxon richness show significant differences between the two classes of lakes, and the variation in these variables is best explained by loss-on-ignition of the sediments (LOI). Relative chironomid abundances show some differences between the two groups of lakes, with several chironomid taxa occurring preferentially in one of the two lake-types. The variability in chironomid assemblages is also best explained by LOI. Application of a chironomid-temperature inference model shows that both types of lakes reconstruct July air temperatures that are equal to, or slightly underestimating, the measured temperature of the region. We conclude that, although there are some differences between the chironomid assemblages of floodplain lakes and of isolated lakes, these differences do not have a major effect on chironomid-based temperature reconstruction.     

Quantitative paleotemperature estimates from δ18O of chironomid head capsules preserved in arctic lake sediments

A paleoenvironmental perspective of temperature change is paramount to understanding the significance of recent warming in the Arctic. Late Quaternary sediments from many arctic lakes provide environmental archives with decadal resolution, but reconstructions are hampered by the relative insensitivity of many traditional proxies to temperature. Here, we show that the δ¹⁸O of head capsules of chironomid larvae are equilibrated with the δ¹⁸O of lakewaters in which they live. In suitable lakes, lakewater δ¹⁸O is controlled by the δ¹⁸O of local precipitation, which is strongly correlated to mean annual air temperature (MAT). From this correlation, chironomid δ¹⁸O can be used to examine past changes in MAT. We illustrate the potential of this novel approach to paleothermometry with examples from two arctic lakes that reveal strong regional paleoclimatic gradients in the early Holocene.     

Influence of industrial activity and pollution on the paleoclimate reconstruction from a eutrophic lake in lowland England,UK

Reliable estimates of Holocene temperatures are important for understanding past climate dynamics, the response of biota to climate change, and validating climate models. Chironomids in lake sediment cores are used widely to quantify past summer temperatures, for which high-latitude and/or high-altitude lakes, remote from human influence, are usually considered appropriate. Temperature inferences from lowland lakes are likely influenced by other variables, specifically eutrophication and industrial pollution, but their reliability has never been tested. We used a Norwegian chironomid-based transfer function (r ² = 0.91; RMSEP = 1.01 °C) to infer mean July air temperature over the last 200 years, using chironomid assemblages in a core collected from a polluted, nutrient-enriched lake at Speke Hall, Liverpool, England. The chironomid-inferred temperatures correlate significantly with the local instrumental temperature record and follow long-term national temperature trends. These results show that chironomids can be used to produce reliable estimates of past mean July air temperature, even when other variables have also influenced the composition of the chironomid community. These findings underline the value of chironomids as sensitive and reliable quantitative proxies for summer temperature.     

Chironomid assemblages in cores from multiple water depths reflect oxygen-driven changes in a deep French lake over the last 150 years

We sampled modern chironomids at multiple water depths in Lake Annecy, France, before reconstructing changes in chironomid assemblages at sub-decadal resolution in sediment cores spanning the last 150 years. The lake is a large, deep (z_max = 65 m), subalpine waterbody that has recently returned to an oligotrophic state. Comparison between the water-depth distributions of living chironomid larvae and subfossil head capsules (HC) along three surface-sediment transects indicated spatial differences in the influence of external forcings on HC deposition (e.g. tributary effects). The transect with the lowest littoral influence and the best-preserved, depth-specific chironomid community characteristics was used for paleolimnological reconstructions at various water depths. At the beginning of the twentieth century, oxygen-rich conditions prevailed in the lake, as inferred from M. contracta-type and Procladius sp. at deep-water sites (i.e. cores from 56 to 65 m) and Paracladius sp. and H. grimshawi-type in the core from 30 m depth. Over time, chironomid assemblages in cores from all three water depths converged toward the dominance of S. coracina-type, indicating enhanced hypoxia. The initial change in chironomid assemblages from the deep-water cores occurred in the 1930s, at the same time that an increase in lake trophic state is inferred from an increase in total organic carbon (TOC) concentration in the sediment. In the 1950s, an assemblage change in the core from 30 m water depth reflects the rapid expansion of the hypoxic layer into the shallower region of the lake. Lake Annecy recovered its oligotrophic state in the 1990s. Chironomid assemblages, however, still indicate hypoxic conditions, suggesting that modern chironomid assemblages in Lake Annecy are decoupled from the lake trophic state. Recent increases in both TOC and the hydrogen index indicate that changes in pelagic functioning have had a strong indirect influence on the composition of the chironomid assemblage. Finally, the dramatic decrease in HC accumulation rate over time suggests that hypoxic conditions are maintained through a feedback loop, wherein the accumulation of (un-consumed) organic matter and subsequent bacterial respiration prevent chironomid re-colonization. We recommend study of sediment cores from multiple water depths, as opposed to investigation of only a single core from the deepest part of the lake, to assess the details of past ecological changes in large deep lakes.     

Population trends in the Slavonian grebe <Emphasis Type="Italic">Podiceps auritus</Emphasis> (L.) and Chironomidae (Diptera) at a Scottish loch

Loch Ruthven holds the largest British population of the rare water-bird Podiceps auritus, the Slavonian or horned grebe. The breeding success of this bird has fluctuated annually since records began in 1970. To investigate whether these trends are linked to the abundance of chironomid midges, which are an important food-source for the grebe chicks, we analysed a sediment core from the lake, which was sliced at 2.5-mm intervals and provided near-annual sampling resolution. We also analysed diatoms and algal pigments in the lake sediments and inferred changes in total phosphorus from the diatom assemblage to determine whether changes in lake productivity have influenced the abundance of chironomids. Trends in grebe productivity, chironomid abundance and algal assemblages were compared against climate data to determine whether climate, specifically, the North Atlantic Oscillation, was the ultimate driver of the trends we recorded. Our results show that grebe breeding success is positively correlated with chironomid abundance and chironomid abundance is positively correlated with diatom-inferred total phosphorus. Lake productivity and chironomid abundance began to rise early in the twentieth century and continued to rise on a steeper trajectory from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Since the mid-1960s, chironomid abundance began to fluctuate erratically and since 1970 was in phase with grebe productivity, with the grebe trends most plausibly lagging by 1 year. These trends appear to correlate with inter-annual fluctuations in diatom-inferred total phosphorus. No correlation was found between grebe productivity or chironomid abundance and climate variables, suggesting that the size of the chironomid population and breeding success of Podiceps auritus at Loch Ruthven is resource-linked.     

Chironomids as quantitative indicators of mean July air temperature: validation by comparison with century-long meteorological records from northern Sweden

This study evaluates the potential of using chironomid assemblages to estimate past temperature changes by comparing chironomid-inferred temperatures to meteorological data for the last 87 years. This comparison is made using high-resolution (i.e., sub-decadally resolved) short cores of four lakes along a gradient of altitude (Lake Njulla, 999 m a.s.l., Lake 850, 850 m a.s.l., Lake Alanen Laanijavri, 365 m a.s.l. and Lake Vuoskkujavri, 348 m a.s.l.), vegetation (pine forest to alpine tundra vegetation) and temperature (mean July temperature of 12.4 to 8.1°C). Patterns of chironomid-inferred changes in mean July air temperature were highly comparable to changes in the meteorological data. Moreover, instrumental data were almost always within the specific errors of the quantitative estimates using chironomids. These results indicate that chironomids can be used as a powerful tool to reconstruct temperatures and that chironomids are sensitive enough to record temperature changes of low magnitude such as those recorded during the Holocene. Although this relationship between temperature and chironomid community is strong for the last 87 years, we cannot assume that other environmental factors such as organic matter, changes of lake water depth or oxygen availability were not more significant over longer temporal scales of the Holocene, or longer.