Fossil Coleoptera assemblages in the Great Lakes region of North America: Past changes and future prospects

This paper is intended as a summary which specifically addresses certain fossil Coleoptera assemblages from an area centred on the Great Lakes region of central and eastern North America — a region which has a relatively large number of sites with well-preserved fossil assemblages. It is an area which was crossed several times by ice advances during the last glacial stage, and relict periglacial features are present in the region. Most importantly, it has seen climatic fluctuations which represent temperature extremes in both warm and cold episodes of the late Quaternary. However, the questions to be addressed by this NATO ARW, namely the spatial and evolutionary responses of terrestrial biota in response to past and future climate change, necessitate a somewhat broader discussion.