MARKED POST-18TH CENTURY ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE IN HIGH-ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS

Citation
Msv. Douglas et al., MARKED POST-18TH CENTURY ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE IN HIGH-ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS, Science, 266(5184), 1994, pp. 416-419
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Journal title
ISSN journal
00368075
Volume
266
Issue
5184
Year of publication
1994
Pages
416 - 419
Database
ISI
SICI code
0036-8075(1994)266:5184<416:MPCEIH>2.0.ZU;2-6
Abstract
Paleolimnological data from three high-arctic ponds on Cape Herschel, Ellesmere Island, Canada, show that diatom assemblages were relatively stable over the last few millennia but then experienced unparalleled changes beginning in the 19th century. The environmental factors causi ng these assemblage shifts may be related to recent climatic warming. Regardless of the cause, the biota of these isolated and seemingly pri stine ponds have changed dramatically in the recent past and any hopes of cataloging natural assemblages may already be fruitless.