Late-Glacial/Holocene succession of the chironomid and cladoceran fauna of the Soppensee (Central Switzerland)

Remains of chironomids and cladocerans were studied in a profundal sediment core, which covered a time period since the Oldest Dryas. The aim was to observe long-term variability in the structure of the aquatic fauna. The most dramatic change in the chironomid fauna occurred at the end of the Younger Dryas when the predominating cold-stenothermal Sergentia coracina disappeared due to both climatic amelioration and eutrophic conditions. The chydorids showed a distinct response to the changing temperature at the end of the Oldest Dryas as evidenced by an increase in species diversity, whereas no effect was discernible in the Younger Dryas. A decrease in the proportion of clear water species occurred in the Boreal. In the planktonic Cladocera,Bosmina longispina became extinct in the Atlantic and two Eubosmina morphs of uncertain taxonomic state very recently invaded the lake.