Patterson, R.T. and Kumar, A. 2000 Use of arcellacea to gauge levels of pollution and remediation of industrially polluted lakes, in Martin, R.E. (ed) Environmental Micropaleontology, v. 15 of Topics in Geobiology, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publication, p. 257-278.
Arcellaceans are microscopic testate rhizopods found in a large number of freshwater and brackish environments. Their agglutinated shells, cemented in an organic matrix, are almost impervious to dissolution. Arcellaceans are ideal for statistical analysis because they are very abundant in Recent and late Quaternary sediments (several hundred per cc). Recent research in lakes contaminated by mine tailings in northeastern Ontario, Canada has indicated that they are sensitive indicators of a number of anthropogenic environmental factors including pH and heavy metal contamination. In particular, their asexual reproductive mode results in the production of environmentally influenced “strains” that are particularly useful in identifying distinctive chemically polluted and remediated benthic environments in lakes. Arcellaceans have a simple morphology, making them easy to identify. They occur in materials that are simple to prepare for examination, making them cost effective indicators of both long and short-term environmental change in lacustrine environments.