HOLOCENE PALEOLIMNOLOGY IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION- INSIGHTS FROM NON-POLLEN PALYNOMORPHS IN GEORGIAN BAY AND LAKE SIMCOE

Although there have been many published studies of pollen and embryophyte spores from the Great Lakes region, relatively little attention has been paid to non-pollen palynomorphs. The acid-resistant remains of algae (e.g. dinoflagellate cysts, diatoms, Pediastrum) and protists (e.g. testate amoebae./ thecamoebians), animals (e.g.arthropods, rotifers), and fungal spores and hyphae potentially hold a wealth of paleoecological information that can be compared with modern limnological data. The record of non-pollen palynomorphs from two large lake systems, Georgian Bay (an arm of Lake Huron), and Lake Simcoe (just south of Georgian Bay) is interpreted relative to the large-scale climatic, lake level, and water quality changes through the Holocene.