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Ecological Interactions Affecting Diatom Climate Reconstructions In Prairie Saline Lakes Of The Northern Great Plains (Usa), Courtney R. Wigdahl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sedimentary diatom profiles from saline lakes are frequently used to reconstruct lakewater salinity as an indicator of drought. However, diatom-inferred salinity reconstructions (DI-salinity) from geographically-close sites in the Great Plains (USA) have yielded disparate results. Here, I explore how within-lake ecological processes, such as physical changes in lake habitat and zooplankton grazing pressure, may affect the accuracy of diatom-based salinity reconstructions. I examined how relationships differed among drought, lake-level change, and diatom community structure over the last century by developing three-dimensional models of planktic:benthic habitat (P:B) relationships with lake level change. I explored the potential for zooplankton grazing influence by …