Cascading effects of freshwater salinization on plankton communities in the Sierra Nevada

• DOI: 10.1002/lol2.10177
• Publication Date: 2020-12-05T11:58:07Z
• Authors: Emma R. Moffett; Henry K. Baker; Christine C. Bona...; Jonathan B. Shurin; Celia C. Symons
• Keywords: Mesocosm

Abstract Runoff containing road salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) causes the salinization of inland freshwaters, with potentially severe impacts on aquatic species. We performed a mesocosm experiment to test effects plankton community structure in an oligotrophic mountain lake limited history elevated concentrations. exposed communities gradient 30 concentrations ranging from 1 2900 Cl − mg L −1 for 6 weeks. Adding increased zooplankton biomass at < 500 while reducing phytoplankton biomass. Zooplankton declined precipitously higher concentrations, showing mirror image increase. The initial increase addition suggests that are salt‐limited low ionic Additionally, inverse response and salinity mainly affects via changes top‐down regulation by grazers.