From fresh to saline: a comparison of zooplankton and plant communities developing under a gradient of salinity with communities developing under constant salinity levels

Abstract

In Australia, many freshwater wetlands are becoming saline. Knowing which elements of a biotic community will persist as wetlands turn saline is relevant to their future management. We simulated gradual and sudden increases in salinity in outdoor mesocosms to test the hypotheses that: (1) aquatic plant and zooplankton communities exposed to a gradient of increasing salinity over time would initially resemble freshwater communities, but as the salinity increased they would resemble communities found in more saline systems; and (2) that a gradual change in salinity over 6 months influences zooplankton and plant communities in the same way as a sudden salinity change. Below 1000 mg L^–1, as salinity increased gradually, communities rich in species and numbers of individuals resembled freshwater communities. However, as the salinity exceeded 1000 mg L^–1, taxa were progressively lost and communities became less diverse. When salinities exceeded 3000 mg L^–1 the diversity decreased rapidly and few taxa remained at 5000 mg L^–1. Both sudden and gradual increases in salinity induced similar decreases in diversity. We predict that as natural wetlands become more saline, few freshwater biota will survive once the salinity exceeds 5000 mg L^–1. In the long term, such salinised wetlands would need to be recolonised by salt-tolerant taxa for a functional wetland to persist.