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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2023

Widespread variation in salt tolerance within freshwater zooplankton species reduces the predictability of community-level salt tolerance

Arnott, Shelley E.; Fugere, Vincent; Symons, Celia C.; Melles, Stephanie J.; Beisner, Beatrix E.; Canedo-Arguelles, Miguel; Hebert, Marie-Pier; Brentrup, Jennifer A.; Downing, Amy L.; Gray, Derek K.; Greco, Danielle; Hintz, William D.; McClymont, Alexandra; Relyea, Rick A.; Rusak, James A.; Searle, Catherine L.; Astorg, Louis; Baker, Henry K.; Ersoy, Zeynep; Espinosa, Carmen;
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Abstract

The salinization of freshwaters is a global threat to aquatic biodiversity. We quantified variation in chloride (Cl-) tolerance of 19 freshwater zooplankton species in four countries to answer three questions: (1) How much variation in Cl- tolerance is present among populations? (2) What factors predict intraspecific variation in Cl- tolerance? (3) Must we account for intraspecific variation to accurately predict community Cl- tolerance? We conducted field mesocosm experiments at 16 sites and compiled acute LC(50)s from published laboratory studies. We found high variation in LC(50)s for Cl- tolerance in multiple species, which, in the experiment, was only explained by zooplankton community composition. Variation in species-LC50 was high enough that at 45% of lakes, community response was not predictable based on species tolerances measured at other sites. This suggests that water quality guidelines should be based on multiple populations and communities to account for large intraspecific variation in Cl- tolerance.

Published in

Limnology and Oceanography Letters
2023, volume: 8, number: 1, pages: 8-18
Publisher: WILEY

Authors' information

Arnott, Shelley E.
Queens University - Canada
Fugere, Vincent
University of Quebec
Symons, Celia C.
University of California Irvine
Melles, Stephanie J.
Toronto Metropolitan Univ
Beisner, Beatrix E.
University of Quebec
Canedo-Arguelles, Miguel
University of Barcelona
Hebert, Marie-Pier
McGill University
Hebert, Marie-Pier
University of Quebec
Brentrup, Jennifer A.
Dartmouth College
Downing, Amy L.
Ohio Wesleyan University
Gray, Derek K.
Wilfrid Laurier University
Greco, Danielle
Queens University - Canada
Hintz, William D.
University of Toledo
McClymont, Alexandra
Queens University - Canada
Relyea, Rick A.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rusak, James A.
Ontario Minist Environm Conservat and Pk
Rusak, James A.
Queens University - Canada
Searle, Catherine L.
Purdue University
Astorg, Louis
University of Quebec Montreal
Baker, Henry K.
University of California San Diego
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Sustainable Development Goals

SDG14 Life below water

UKÄ Subject classification

Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources
Ecology

Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10277

URI (permanent link to this page)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/118788