Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College/School
College of Science and Mathematics
Department/Program
Biology
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Matthew Schuler
Committee Member
Alexis Khursigara
Committee Member
Lisa Hazard
Abstract
Anthropogenic salinization from road salt application has degraded freshwater ecosystems across the United States, yet the tolerance of freshwater communities to elevated salinity may depend on their historical exposure. Coastal systems experience natural salt intrusion through tides and storm events, potentially fostering greater salinity tolerance amongst resident organisms, while inland systems lack this exposure history. To investigate, I studied the abiotic and biotic responses of zooplankton communities from four wetlands across a salinity gradient to assess tolerance to experimental salt exposure. Two inland freshwater wetlands are subject to anthropogenic salinization from road salt runoff, while two coastal wetlands experience natural saltwater intrusion. Significant interactions between chloride treatment and source wetland were observed for multiple zooplankton community metrics, including genus richness and abundance. Inland wetland communities declined with increasing chloride concentration, while coastal wetland communities showed no measurable response across the salinity gradient. Inland communities also underwent significant compositional shifts at elevated chloride, with salt-sensitive genera disappearing and salt-tolerant rotifers becoming dominant, whereas coastal community composition remained stable. These findings suggest that the vulnerability of freshwater zooplankton to anthropogenic salinization depends on the historical salinity regime of their source habitat, potentially mediated by differences in the composition of dormant egg banks, and highlight the need for further research into the ecological mechanisms underlying differential salt tolerance among wetland communities.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Contreras, Marisa, "Differential Salinity Tolerance and Compositional Shift in Zooplankton Communities from Coastal and Inland Wetlands" (2026). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1692.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1692