Effects of salinity and water temporality on zooplankton community in coastal Mediterranean ponds

Some of the predicted effects of climate warming in Mediterranean climate are the increase of temperature, change of precipitation patterns and the rise in sea levels. This will have major consequences, mainly in coastal aquatic ecosystems, by the increase of salinity and the reduction of the flooding period, affecting the whole aquatic community. To assess on the possible consequences of the global change in the zooplankton community of Mediterranean coastal lakes, we analized the zooplankton diversity in a set of lakes with different salinity and water permanence time. The ponds were classified in four groups: permanent and temporary freshwater ponds, and permanent and temporary brackish ponds. Whereas we did not detect a great effect of hydroperiod on zooplankton community, the increase in salinity produced (through direct and indirect interaction) a rise in rotifer density and a reduction in cladoceran cumulative richness, richness per visit and diversity. All these differences were remarkable in Permanent Brackish lakes, the group which showed the higher dissimilarity with the other groups of lakes. The disappearance of cladocerans in these systems can lead to an increase in the eutrophication and a reduction of diversity.