This paper presents the tidypaleo package for R, which enables high-quality reproducible visualizations of time-stratigraphic multivariate data that is common to several disciplines of the natural sciences. Rather than introduce new plotting functions, the tidypaleo package defines several orthogonal components of the ggplot2 package that, when combined, enable most types of stratigraphic diagrams to be created. We do so by conceptualizing multi-parameter data as a series of measurements (rows) with attributes (columns), enabling the use of the ggplot2 facet mechanism to display multi-parameter data. The orthogonal components include (1) scales that represent relative abundance and concentration values, (2) geometries that are commonly used in paleoenvironmental diagrams created elsewhere, (3) facets that correctly assign scales and sizes to panels representing multiple parameters, and (4) theme elements that enable tidypaleo to create elegant graphics. Collectively, this approach demonstrates the efficacy of a minimal gg-plot2 wrapper to create domain-specific plots.
Mink fur farming was once a widespread agricultural activity in southwestern Nova Scotia. Freshwaters near to and downstream of several mink fur farm operations have experienced severe water quality issues, including eutrophication and recurring algal blooms. Here, we use dated lake sediments to examine trends in primary producers and primary consumers from a hypereutrophic lake to assess how cladoceran assemblages have responded to extreme eutrophication. Shifts in the dominant pelagic cladoceran taxa began in the early 1900s, coinciding with an increase in sedimentary chlorophyll-a concentrations. Notably, small-bodied bosminids decreased, while taxa such as Chydorus brevilabris and Daphnia pulex spp. dominated assemblages in recent decades. Bottom-up ecological factors, such as decades of greater primary production, were the likely drivers of assemblage shifts of primary consumers. Consistent body sizes of bosminids throughout the sedimentary record suggested that pelagic cladocerans were not influenced solely by predation pressure from macroinvertebrates or fish. This study provides evidence of large-scale ecological shifts occurring at multiple trophic levels in a hypereutrophic temperate lake with mink farming operations in its catchment.
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