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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Establishment of Microbial Eukaryotic Enrichment Cultures from a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake and Assessment of Carbon Fixation Potential

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Salting our freshwater lakes.

Hilary A Dugan^1,2, Sarah L Bartlett³, Samantha M Burke⁴

¹Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706; hdugan@wisc.edu.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|April 12, 2017

Summary

Urbanization is increasing lake salinity across North America. Even 1% impervious land cover near lakes drives long-term salinization, threatening freshwater ecosystems and services.

Keywords:

chloride ecosystem services impervious surface limnology road salt

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Area of Science:

Environmental Science
Ecology
Hydrology

Background:

North temperate regions contain the highest densities of lakes globally.
Urbanization and chloride runoff are increasing freshwater salinization, threatening water quality and ecosystem services.
The broad-scale spatial patterns and drivers of lake salinization remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify spatial patterns of lake salinization across North America.
To investigate the landscape and climate drivers of observed salinization trends.
To predict future lake salinity based on current trends and urbanization.

Main Methods:

Analyzed long-term chloride concentration data from 371 North American lakes.
Calculated landscape and climate metrics for each lake site.
Correlated chloride trends with impervious land cover and climate variables.

Main Results:

Identified significant decadal trends in lake salinization across North America.
Found impervious land cover to be a strong predictor of chloride trends in Northeast and Midwest lakes.
Demonstrated that as little as 1% impervious land cover increases the likelihood of long-term salinization.

Conclusions:

A significant portion of North American lakes are experiencing salinization due to urbanization.
The potential for widespread, long-term salinization is high, particularly in lakes with surrounding impervious surfaces.
Many lakes may exceed chronic chloride exposure thresholds for aquatic life within 50 years if current trends persist.