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Early postglacial chironomid succession in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, and its paleoenvironmental significance

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Paleolimnology and the Reconstruction of Ancient Environments

Abstract

Chironomids typical of cold, well-oxygenated, oligotrophic environments are common in late-Pleistocene deposits, but these taxa are rare in Holocene sediments of most small temperate lakes. Hypotheses to explain the demise of these taxa include variations in climate, lake trophic state, lake levels, terrestrial vegetation, and/or sediment composition. In southwestern British Columbia, this demise correlates with palynological evidence for a lodgepole pine decline, and for rapid climatic amelioration, at about 10000 yr B.P. Faunal changes are poorly correlated with lithological boundaries. The similar timing of the declines among lakes suggests that a regional influence, climate, has possibly been the principal determinant of early chironomid faunal succession.

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Author notes

  1. Ian R. Walker

    Present address: Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, and Institute for Quaternary Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Ian R. Walker & Rolf W. Mathewes

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  1. Ian R. Walker
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  2. Rolf W. Mathewes
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Ronald B. Davis

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© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Walker, I.R., Mathewes, R.W. (1990). Early postglacial chironomid succession in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, and its paleoenvironmental significance. In: Davis, R.B. (eds) Paleolimnology and the Reconstruction of Ancient Environments. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2655-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2655-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7697-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2655-4

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