Much ado about dead diptera

Abstract

Warwick’s (1989) concerns with the effect of sediment composition and sedimentation rates upon chironomid faunal composition are drawn largely from his paleolimnological investigation of anthropogenic eutrophication processes in the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario (Warwick, 1980a, 1980b). Thus, a brief review of this literature is pertinent to our discussion. The chironomid fauna of the Bay of Quinte had changed little for two to three thousand years prior to ca. 1850, when the influx of inorganic sediments increased abruptly. The relative abundance of many chironomid taxa changed at or about the same time. It is obvious that European colonists, through their exploitation of land-based resources, had dramatically altered the bay.