Presentation of Chironomid-Based Paleoecological Research at Zoological Days 2025

Our colleague Aneta Formackova participated in the “Zoological Days 2025” conference in Brno (Czech Republic) on February 13–14, 2025. She presented her research titled “Modern versus Subfossil Chironomid Assemblages: Ecological Insights from Lake Bâlea (Southern Carpathians, Romania)” during the session “Paleoecology and Paleontology of Invertebrates”. Her presentation focused on the paleolimnological study of Lake Bâlea, analysing chironomid head capsules and other aquatic insect remains from an 8.4-meter sediment core covering the Late Glacial to the present. She discussed shifts in chironomid assemblages over time, their link to environmental changes, and their role in Holocene summer air temperature reconstructions. Additionally, she compared subfossil and modern chironomid communities, highlighting the persistence of cold-adapted, oligotrophic taxa in the lake’s ecosystem even today.

For more information, visit the conference website:  https://www.ivb.cz/vyzkum/zoologicke-dny/