Paleolimnological assessment of a hyper-eutrophic lake (Nowlans Lake, N.S., Canada) Cladoceran communities

Mink fur farming was once a widespread agricultural activity in southwestern Nova Scotia. Some freshwaters near mink fur farm operations now show severe water quality issues. Notably, the watershed of Nowlans Lake (southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada) once contained six mink farms as well as a fish meal feed processing plant. It is now one of the most productive lakes in Atlantic Canada, with exceedingly high measured Total Phosphorus concentrations.
Here, we provide data from a paleolimnological investigation on the long-term environmental changes that occurred in Nowlans Lake, and how these changes have impacted cladoceran communities. First, we identify abundances of cladoceran taxa throughout the sediment core, corresponding to assemblages from the ~1900s to present day (determined by 210Pb dating analyses – see Table 1 of cited manuscript), and provide raw counts. We detected shifts in the dominant pelagic cladoceran taxa beginning in the early 1900s, with decreases in small-bodied bo...