PALEOLIMNOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF OBSERVED DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF CHRYSOPHYTE CYSTS IN ARCTIC POND ENVIRONMENTS

In a survey of 35 high arctic ponds, chrysophycean cysts were relative ly more common in moss periphyton and epilithon habitats, than in surf ace sediment samples. The highest percentages of cysts relative to dia toms were found in the semi-aquatic mosses. Although chrysophytes are generally considered to be planktonic, periphytic taxa may be common i n high latitudes. The ratio of diatom frustules to chrysophyte cysts i n arctic sediment cores may be tracking different environmental variab les than paleolimnologists may intuitively expect based on observation s from more temperate regions.