Functional ecology and palaeolimnology: using cladoceran remains to reconstruct anthropogenic impact

The field of lake palaeoecology has undergone significant changes. Powerful quantitative techniques have been developed to investigate anthropogenic i mpacts on lakes. Inclusion of zooplankton and benthic chydorid cladocerans has provided previously unavailable information on the historical developme nt of planktivorous fish populations, submerged macrophytes and lake produc tion, and has been used to document exotic species introductions, rapid gen etic evolution and human disturbance of lakes. In particular, new technique s now allow a more complete evaluation of changes in past and present troph ic structure to be made, and provide insights on the rapid evolutionary res ponses of aquatic invertebrate communities to anthropogenic perturbation of lakes.