Andean hypersaline lakes in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile: Between lithium exploitation and unique biodiversity conservation

Abstract

Hypersaline lakes or brines are unique ecosystems with unique value and biodiversity that provide economic (mining) and noneconomic services (waterbird habitat).

CanGammarus aequicauda(Amphipoda) suppress a population ofBaeotendipes noctivagus(Chironomidae) in a hypersaline lake? A case of Lake Moynaki (Crimea)

“…However, at present, it is becoming more and more obvious that the value of such reservoirs is not limited to this. In different regions, they play a vital role in preserving bird diversity (Bildstein et al., 1993; Conover & Bell, 2020; Gajardo & Redón, 2019; Verkuil et al., 1993), and have a high potential for using their biological resources, including for the aquaculture development (Anufriieva, 2018; Bray & Lawrence, 1998; Van Stappen et al., 2020). Because of the increasing problem of freshwater scarcity, it is becoming increasingly necessary to reduce the aquaculture load on freshwaters with the replacement of its development in the hypersaline waters (Anufriieva, 2018).…”

Hypersaline Lagoons from Chile, the Southern Edge of the World

“…As mentioned in the previous sections, hypersaline lakes and lagoons produce commercial services like salt extraction and brine shrimp cysts, as in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, the major cyst producer for aquaculture in the world. The lake is an example of good management to combine economic and noneconomic services like waterbird habitat [18]. However, mining is the cause of water and brine diversion and, together with climate oscillations, is the main driver accounting for the actual shrinking of hypersaline ecosystems around the world [19].…”

“…Lagoons of the Atacama Desert are indeed highly sensitive to the water budget in such a way that little changes can result in significant and amplified response in the physicochemical, ionic, and biological properties of the lagoons [8]. These lagoons are an integral part of the world largest lithium exploitation from brine (Figure 5D) [18,37] pumped from beneath the surface of Salar de Atacama, the largest salt flat in Chile. The water and brine diversion associated with lithium exploitation represent a significant volume per day and is expected to increase as lithium demand has soared to support the growing fleet of electric cars.…”

“…The water and brine diversion associated with lithium exploitation represent a significant volume per day and is expected to increase as lithium demand has soared to support the growing fleet of electric cars. Because of this, we have alerted on the need to protect these highly fragile ecosystems [18]. In this chapter, the role as a bioindicator of the ecosystem health of the brine shrimp Artemia has been highlighted, as this crustacean is also a predictor of waterbirds abundance.…”

“…From a more practical perspective, hypersaline lagoons are considered lowdiversity natural laboratories to understand how simple ecosystems function to provide economic services like mining salt and brine shrimp (Artemia) biomass, like in the Great Salt Lake in Utah, an example of a well-managed lake to allow the coexistence of economic and noneconomic services like waterbird habitat. The lake is the main source of Artemia cysts for world aquaculture [16], but the Artemia biomass required to harvest tonnes of cysts also attracts local and migratory waterbirds that need to be protected, some of which are endangered [17,18]. Hypersaline lakes and lagoons around the world are, however, shrinking at an alarming rate due to climate oscillations and water or brine diversion for mining [19]; hence, there is a need to conserve their unique biodiversity, properties, and services to comply with international treaties on biodiversity, ecosystem, and wetland conservation.…”