Freshwater salinisation: a research agenda for a saltier world

The widespread salinisation of freshwater ecosystems poses a major threat to the biodiversity, functioning, and services that they provide. Human activities promote freshwater salinisation through multiple drivers (e.g., agriculture, resource extraction, urbanisation) that are amplified by climate change. Due to its complexity, we are still far from fully understanding the ecological and evolutionary consequences of freshwater salinisation. Here, we assess current research gaps and present a research agenda to guide future studies. We identified different gaps in taxonomic groups, levels of biological organisation, and geographic regions. We suggest focusing on global- and landscape-scale processes, functional approaches, genetic and molecular levels, and ecoevolutionary dynamics as key future avenues to predict the consequences of freshwater salinisation for ecosystems and human societies.

Automated summary

The salinisation of freshwater ecosystems is a significant threat, affecting biodiversity and human societies. Understanding its ecological and evolutionary consequences is still a challenge, with various research gaps identified. Focusing on global- and landscape-scale processes, functional approaches, genetic and molecular levels, and ecoevolutionary dynamics can help predict the impacts of freshwater salinisation.