3.3. Species richness
After 21 days, a total of 34 species emerged from
the wetland sediment. Twenty fi ve taxa emerged
from the Willalooka sediment consisting of 18 rotifer
and 7 cladoceran species. Mandina sediment
yielded 8 species consisting of 4 rotifers and 4 copepods;
and KC-Road sediment yielded 11 species
consisting of 6 Rotifers, 4 copepods and 1 cladocera
species (Fig. 2). Hatching for most cladocerans and
rotifers taxa was largely restricted to freshwater
sediment, while hatching for Copepods (all species
combined) was restricted to only saline wetland
samples (Table III). Zooplankton showed a decrease
in the number of taxa once salinity increased from
300 to 15 000 mg dm-3. This trend was signifi cant
(p < 0.001) for zooplankton at Willalooka wetland
but not for zooplankton that emerged from Mandina
and KC-Road wetland sediments.