Great Salt Lake Artemia: Ecosystem Functions and Services with a Global Reach

Marden, Brad; Brown, Phil D.; Bosteels, Thomas

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-40352-2_7

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 235 publications

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“…Microbial bioherms play a critical role in the primary production in the GSL ecosystem (Baxter & Butler, 2020; Lindsay et al, 2019, 2020; Marden et al, 2020), yet detailed information about the extent and function of the microbial mat‐dominated benthos has heretofore not been widely available. Until the start of this investigation, the contributions of the sublittoral microbial communities that populate the benthos in GSL were very sparsely documented.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and controls on the distribution of sublittoral microbial bioherms in Great Salt Lake, Utah: Implications for understanding microbialite development

Baskin¹,

Porta

Wright

2021

The Depositional Record

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Side‐scan sonar and Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse mapping of Great Salt Lake, Utah, linked to reprocessing of acoustic data from bathymetric surveys, has enabled the distribution of microbial bioherms to be assessed. Bioherms occupy an estimated area >700 km2 in the south arm and >300 km2 in the north arm. Distributions vary from statistically dispersed to clustered, and in this latter case, are predominantly located on metre‐scale, fault‐controlled topographic highs, with sediment infilling intervening lows between adjacent offsets. Individual bioherms are circular to oblate and range from centimetres to over 2 m in diameter. In some areas, bioherm heights were measured at more than 1.5 m above adjacent substrate. Sublittoral bioherms are made of aragonite, calcite and minor dolomite precipitated due to physico‐chemical, biologically induced and influenced carbonate mineralization processes in association with microbial mats. Bioherm fabrics vary at the millimetre to centimetre‐scale and consist of leiolitic and clotted peloidal micrite‐grade carbonate, sinuous threads of spherulitic fibrous aragonite crystals, laminated micrite boundstone and internal carbonate mud sediment with peloids and ooids. The identification of factors that influence microbial bioherm occurrence and spatial distribution in Great Salt Lake is limited to a set of collinear physical, chemical and biological variables that are confined to a localised closed system, such as salinity, water depth, wave energy, stable substrate and sediment accumulation. Anthropogenic modifications to Great Salt Lake resulting in increased salinity have exceeded the salinity range in which bioherm‐mediating microbial communities can survive, effectively defining an upper limit of salinity for bioherm microbial community viability. The better understanding of the distribution of microbial bioherms has significant implications for managing and protecting the lake ecosystem and may provide insights into the physical and chemical controls that existed during the formation of fossil microbialites in deep time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and controls on the distribution of sublittoral microbial bioherms in Great Salt Lake, Utah: Implications for understanding microbialite development

Baskin¹,

Porta

Wright

2021

The Depositional Record

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“…Although the biodiversity of macroinvertebrate assemblages, a primary avian food source, decreases with increasing salinity, the invertebrate biomass in saline lakes can still be immense (Herbst, 2001; Scheibler & Ciocco, 2011), especially for brine shrimp, Artemia spp. (Marden, Brown & Bosteels, 2020), and brine flies, Ephydra spp. (Barrett & Belovsky, 2020).…”

Section: The (Concentrated) Salt Of the Earthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Nearctic harbours 12 of 15 known species of Ephydra , which occupy environments across a broad range of salinities and chemistries (Herbst, 1999). Together with Artemia , these invertebrates represent keystone species of North and South American saline lakes and constitute an important food resource for millions of avian migrators (Herbst, 1999; Marden et al ., 2020; Redón et al ., 2020). Great Salt Lake, the largest body of water on the Pacific flyway, hosts 338 migratory bird species, including shorebirds (Sorenson et al ., 2020) and pelagic birds (Conover & Bell, 2020; Kijowski et al ., 2020).…”

Section: The (Concentrated) Salt Of the Earthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salt to conserve: a review on the ecology and preservation of hypersaline ecosystems

et al. 2021

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When it comes to the investigation of key ecosystems in the world, we often omit salt from the ecological recipe. In fact, despite occupying almost half of the volume of inland waters and providing crucial services to humanity and nature, inland saline ecosystems are often overlooked in discussions regarding the preservation of global aquatic resources of our planet. As a result, our knowledge of the biological and geochemical dynamics shaping these environments remains incomplete and we are hesitant in framing effective protective strategies against the increasing natural and anthropogenic threats faced by such habitats. Hypersaline lakes, water bodies where the concentration of salt exceeds 35 g/l, occur mainly in arid and semiarid areas resulting from hydrological imbalances triggering the accumulation of salts over time. Often considered the ‘exotic siblings’ within the family of inland waters, these ecosystems host some of the most extremophile communities worldwide and provide essential habitats for waterbirds and many other organisms in already water‐stressed regions. These systems are often highlighted as natural laboratories, ideal for addressing central ecological questions due to their relatively low complexity and simple food web structures. However, recent studies on the biogeochemical mechanisms framing hypersaline communities have challenged this archetype, arguing that newly discovered highly diverse communities are characterised by specific trophic interactions shaped by high levels of specialisation. The main goal of this review is to explore our current understanding of the ecological dynamics of hypersaline ecosystems by addressing four main research questions: (i) why are hypersaline lakes unique from a biological and geochemical perspective; (ii) which biota inhabit these ecosystems and how have they adapted to the high salt conditions; (iii) how do we protect biodiversity from increasing natural and anthropogenic threats; and (iv) which scientific tools will help us preserve hypersaline ecosystems in the future? First, we focus on the ecological characterisation of hypersaline ecosystems, illustrate hydrogeochemical dynamics regulating such environments, and outline key ecoregions supporting hypersaline systems across the globe. Second, we depict the diversity and functional aspects of key taxa found in hypersaline lakes, from microorganisms to plants, invertebrates, waterbirds and upper trophic levels. Next, we describe ecosystem services and discuss possible conservation guidelines. Finally, we outline how cutting‐edge technologies can provide new insights into the study of hypersaline ecology. Overall, this review sheds further light onto these understudied ecosystems, largely unrecognised as important sources of unique biological and functional diversity. We provide perspectives for key future research avenues, and advocate that the conservation of hypersaline lakes should not be taken with ‘a grain of salt’.

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“…The main body of the lake is segmented by a rail causeway, which isolates the saltsaturated north arm (Gunnison Bay) from the south arm (Gilbert Bay), which encompasses our study site. The south arm supports a relatively simple but significant food web (Fig 2A ); Great Salt Lake is a hemispherically important ecosystem [1] that supports millions of resident and migratory birds [2,3] and a brine shrimp industry that harvests cysts used as feed in global aquaculture [4].…”

Section: Introduction Great Salt Lake: a Globally-important Ecosystem...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Desiccation of ecosystem-critical microbialites in the shrinking Great Salt Lake, Utah (USA)

Frantz¹,

Gibby²,

Nilson³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Great Salt Lake hosts an ecosystem that is critical to migratory birds and international aquaculture, yet it is currently threatened by falling lake elevation and high lakewater salinity resulting from water diversions in the upstream watershed and the enduring megadrought in the western United States. Microbialite reefs underpin the ecosystem, hosting a surface microbial community that is estimated to contribute 30% of the lake&rsquor;s primary productivity. We monitored exposure, desiccation, and bleaching over time in an area of microbialite reef. During this period, lake elevation fell by 1.8 m, and salinity increased from 11.0% to 19.5% in open-water portions of the outer reef, reaching halite saturation in hydrologically closed regions. When exposed, microbialite bleaching was rapid, driven by a decrease in surface chlorophyll. Bleached microbialites are not necessarily dead, however, with communities persisting beneath microbialite surfaces for several months of exposure and desiccation. However, superficial losses in the mat community resulted in enhanced microbialite weathering. In addition, we conducted microbialite community recovery experiments by incubating bleached microbialite pieces in lakewater and measuring changes in extractable pigments and DNA over time. We observed rapid recovery at salinities &leq; 17%, approaching 50% recovery within 40 days. 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing of extracted DNA indicated that recovery was driven by initial seeding from lakewater. At higher salinity levels, recovery occurred more slowly and may reflect accumulation and preservation of lake material in halite crusts vs. true recovery. Our results indicate that increased water input should be prioritized in order to return the lake to an elevation that submerges microbialite reefs and lowers salinity levels. Without quick action to reverse diversions in the watershed, loss of pelagic microbial community members due to sustained high salinity could prevent the recovery of the ecosystem-critical microbialite surface communities in Great Salt Lake.

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Great Salt Lake Artemia: Ecosystem Functions and Services with a Global Reach

Cited by 15 publications

References 235 publications

Characteristics and controls on the distribution of sublittoral microbial bioherms in Great Salt Lake, Utah: Implications for understanding microbialite development

Characteristics and controls on the distribution of sublittoral microbial bioherms in Great Salt Lake, Utah: Implications for understanding microbialite development

Salt to conserve: a review on the ecology and preservation of hypersaline ecosystems

Desiccation of ecosystem-critical microbialites in the shrinking Great Salt Lake, Utah (USA)

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