| Road salt application and salt-laden run-off are common, yet little information exists about its influence on periphyton. I measured extracellular enzyme activity and photosynthetic activity of natural winter stream periphyton communities under various short-term laboratory salt exposures. The results of this study suggest that short-term exposure to increased concentrations of salt did not affect extracellular enzyme activity but could temporarily reduce the photosynthetic activity of the periphyton. Further work will be necessary to understand the long-term effects of increased salt concentrations on periphyton and extracellular enzyme activity. |
