Skip to main content Skip to local navigation

Searching lake mud for clues about human impacts on lakes


Searching lake mud for clues about human impacts on lakes

Speaker

Roberto Quinlan

Grade Level
Grades 11 to 12
Category
Biology
Roberto Quinlan

Talk Description:

Humans have affected lakes and rivers in Canada through numerous activities, including large-scale disturbances such as clearing forests, building cities, and discharging pollution into water bodies. For most lakes, we have a difficult time figuring out what environmental impact these activities have had, as large-scale European immigration into Canada started in the 19th century, yet it is only the last few decades that we have been measuring environmental conditions in lakes. The examination of fossil remains preserved in lake mud provides important clues in determining how we have affected our freshwater ecosystems.