Human-induced salinization increasingly threatens inland waters; yet we know little about the multifaceted response of lake communities to salt contamination. By conducting a coordinated mesocosm experiment of lake salinization across 16 sites in North America and Europe, we quantified the response of zooplankton abundance and (taxonomic and functional) community structure to a broad gradient of environmentally relevant chloride concentrations, ranging from 4 to ca. 1400 mg Cl⁻ L⁻¹. We found that crustaceans were distinctly more sensitive to elevated chloride than rotifers; yet, rotifers did not show compensatory abundance increases in response to crustacean declines. For crustaceans, our among-site comparisons indicate: (1) highly consistent decreases in abundance and taxon richness with salinity; (2) widespread chloride sensitivity across major taxonomic groups (Cladocera, Cyclopoida, and Calanoida); and (3) weaker loss of functional than taxonomic diversity. Overall, our study demonstrates that aggregate properties of zooplankton communities can be adversely affected at chloride concentrations relevant to anthropogenic salinization in lakes.

中文翻译：

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在协调的中宇宙实验中，湖泊盐碱化导致浮游动物丰度和多样性持续下降

人为引起的盐碱化对内陆水域的威胁越来越大；然而，我们对湖泊社区对盐污染的多方面反应知之甚少。通过在北美和欧洲的 16 个地点进行协调的湖泊盐化中观实验，我们量化了浮游动物丰度和（分类和功能）群落结构对环境相关氯化物浓度梯度的响应，范围从 4 到 ca。1400 毫克 Cl ^- L ^-1. 我们发现甲壳类动物明显比轮虫对高浓度的氯化物更敏感；然而，轮虫并没有表现出对甲壳类动物数量减少的补偿性丰度增加。对于甲壳类动物，我们的现场比较表明：（1）丰度和分类群丰富度随盐度的下降高度一致；(2) 主要分类群（枝角类、独角兽和 Calanoida）普遍对氯化物敏感；(3) 功能损失比分类多样性弱。总体而言，我们的研究表明，浮游动物群落的聚集特性可能会受到与湖泊人为盐碱化相关的氯化物浓度的不利影响。