Description: Recent advances using experiments, seasonal and spatial distribution assessments, and modeling to better quantify diatom ecology are providing new insights into how climate forcing alters lake ecosystems. These advances all focus on clarifying links between diatom response metrics and specific climate-driven lake ecosystem changes (e.g., thermal structure, lake level). In this talk, I will review and discuss examples of recent approaches used to enhance understanding of diatom responses to changes in lake thermal structure, lake level, and under ice conditions. Implications for paleoclimate reconstructions will also be addressed.

Target audience: The webinar is directed at people interested in understanding how diatoms are used to infer lake condition, and climatic influences on lake physical properties.