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Paleolimnology: an important tool for effective ecosystem
management*
John P. Smol
Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab.,
Dept Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6,
Canada
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Abstract
Effective management of aquatic resources requires long-term
environmental data. However, because long-term observations are
rarely available, indirect proxy methods must be used to substitute
for these missing historical data sets. Major advances have been
made in paleolimnology over the last decade, and many of these advances
can be applied directly to integrated and cost-effective assessments
of aquatic ecosystem health. This commentary uses the analogy of
human health to argue that paleolimnological data provide information
crucial to the decision-making processes of ecosystem managers.
Keywords: lake management, ecosystem health, long-term monitoring,
indicators, acidification
* Keynote lecture, presented at the International Symposium on
Aquatic Ecosystem Health, Waterloo, Ontario, July 23, 1990.
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