Open AccessWidespread variation in salt tolerance within freshwater zooplankton species reduces the predictability of community‐level salt tolerance
Author(s) -
Arnott Shelley E.,
Fugère Vincent,
Symons Celia C.,
Melles Stephanie J.,
Beisner Beatrix E.,
CañedoArgüelles Miguel,
Hébert MariePier,
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,
Franceschini Jaclyn M.,
Giorgio Angelina T.,
Göbeler Norman,
Hassal Emily,
Huynh Mercedes,
Hylander Samuel,
Jonasen Kacie L.,
Kirkwood Andrea,
Langenheder Silke,
Langvall Ola,
Laudon Hjalmar,
Lind Lovisa,
Lundgren Maria,
Moffett Emma R.,
Proia Lorenzo,
Schuler Matthew S.,
Shurin Jonathan B.,
Steiner Christopher F.,
Striebel Maren,
Thibodeau Simon,
Cordero Pablo Urrutia,
VendrellPuigmitja Lidia,
Weyhenmeyer Gesa A.,
Derry Alison M.
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2378-2242
DOI - 10.1002/lol2.10277
Subject(s) - intraspecific competition , zooplankton , mesocosm , salinity , variation (astronomy) , biology , biodiversity , ecology , ecosystem , physics , astrophysics
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‐LC 50 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.