Paleoecological reconstruction of water level changes in a cascade of lakes on Lunkulansaari Island (Lake Ladoga) based on the analysis of Cladocera remains in lake sediments

Abstract

In this study we investigate the dynamics of Cladocera subfossil assemblages (taphocoenoses) during the formation of the cascade of three lakes located on the island of Lunkulansaari in the northeastern part of Lake Ladoga in the late Holocene. Since the last regression of Lake Ladoga and the formation of the lake cascade, Cladocera subfossil assemblages began to accumulate in bottom sediments. Their species structure was alternately dominated by species typical for aquatic vegetation in the littoral zone or species that prefer to live in open water. The data obtained allowed to reconstruct changes in lakes’ water levels and clarify the stages of their development, previously revealed on the basis of pollen spectra of aquatic vegetation.