Body size may potentially be a key characteristic for both an individual and a community response to environmental change that palaeolimnological studies can document. Most palaeoecological investigations are based on the reconstruction of past changes in species assemblages, although some studies have incorporated body size as an indicator of past limnological conditions. Here, we review previously published relationships (or simple correlations) between body size and environmental variables among five different groups of organisms typically well-represented in lake sediments: Cladocera, Ostracoda, Chironomidae, testate amoebae, and diatoms. The most convincing examples showing the value of body size data in palaeolimnology are probably best demonstrated in publications about Cladocera and testacid protozoa; however, even here researchers sometimes reach different conclusions. In this review, we summarize a diverse array of studies examining size relationships and conclude that, whilst considerably more research is needed, size relationships may provide key information in palaeolimnological studies.

中文翻译：

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古石学研究中使用的关键指标大小的变化：批判性综述


体型可能是古石学研究可以记录的个人和社区对环境变化反应的关键特征。大多数古生态学调查都是基于对物种组合过去变化的重建，尽管一些研究将体型作为过去湖沼状况的指标。在这里，我们回顾了以前发表的体型和环境变量之间的关系（或简单的相关性），这些生物群通常在湖泊沉积物中得到充分代表：Cladocera、Ostracoda、Chironomidae、testate amoebae 和硅藻。最令人信服的例子表明体型数据在古石学中的价值，可能在关于 Cladocera 和 Testacid 原生动物的出版物中得到了最好的证明;然而，即使在这里，研究人员有时也会得出不同的结论。在这篇综述中，我们总结了一系列研究大小关系的研究，并得出结论，虽然需要更多的研究，但大小关系可能为古石学研究提供关键信息。