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A comparison of zooplankton communities in saline lakewater with variable anion composition

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Abstract

Although salinity and aquatic biodiversity are inversely related in lake water, the relationship between types of salts and zooplankton communities is poorly understood. In this study, zooplankton species were related to environmental variables from 12 lakes: three saline lakes with water where the dominant anions were SO4 and CO3, four saline lakes with Cl-dominated water, and five dilute, subsaline (0.5–3 gl−1 total dissolved solids) lakes of variable anion composition. Although this study comprised only 12 lakes, distinct differences in zooplankton communities were observed among the two groups of chemically defined saline lakes. Canonical correspondence analysis identified total alkalinity, sulphate, chloride, calcium, sodium, potassium, and total phosphorus as all contributing to the first two ordination axes (λ1 = 0.97 and λ2 = 0.62, P<0.05). The rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and the harpactacoid copepod Cletocamptus sp. prevailed lakes with Cl-dominated water. In contrast, the calanoid copepods Leptodiaptomus sicilis and Diaptomus nevadensis were dominant in the SO4/CO3-dominated lake water with elevated potassium (79–128 mg l−1) and total phosphorus concentrations (1322-2915 μg l−1). The contrasting zooplankton species distribution among these two saline lake types is likely explained by variable selective pressure on zooplankton and their predators from differing physiological tolerances to salt stress and specific ions. While inland saline lakes with Cl as the dominant anion are relatively rare in Canada and SO4/CO3 are the common features, our study provided an opportunity to compare zooplankton communities across the two groups of lakes.

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Author notes

  1. A.M. Derry

    Present address: Department of Biology, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, Canada

    A.M. Derry

  2. Department of Biology, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada

    E.E. Prepas

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

    P.D.N. Hebert

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  2. E.E. Prepas
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  3. P.D.N. Hebert
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Derry, A., Prepas, E. & Hebert, P. A comparison of zooplankton communities in saline lakewater with variable anion composition. Hydrobiologia 505, 199–215 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000007414.12566.19

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