Hypersaline Lagoons from Chile, the Southern Edge of the World

Abstract

Hypersaline lagoons distributed in arid and semiarid regions are unique ecosystems with unique value stemming from their extremophile biodiversity, limnological properties and services, like mining and waterbird habitat. They are natural laboratories to understand how life evolved in extreme environments and how simple ecosystems function to provide waterbird habitat, an essential noneconomic service. Policymakers need this knowledge to protect these ecosystems increasingly affected by climatic change and human-driven perturbations. Hypersaline lagoons from contrasting latitudinal conditions in Chile provide a study case to evaluate how such conditions affect their microscopic and macroscopic diversities. Those in the hyperarid Atacama Desert in northern Chile are an integral part of mineral-rich salars, whereas Patagonian lagoons are unique among freshwater lakes of glacier origin. Despite latitudinal differences, prokaryotic diversity tends to be similar in both extremes. However, genetically distant brine shrimp (Artemia) species, A. franciscana (north) and A. persimilis (Patagonia), inhabit them. This crustacean is a keystone taxon in the food web, and its abundance indicates ecosystem quality and attracts waterbirds. This chapter stresses the need to systematically monitoring Artemia abundance and all factors affecting its fitness (gut microbiota, parasites, environmental conditions). Finally, the need to conserve these unique and extreme ecosystems is highlighted.

Phylogenetic Relationships of Avian Cestodes from Brine Shrimp and Congruence with Larval Morphology

“…The brine shrimp Artemia spp. (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Anostraca) has a key role in the life cycle and transmission of avian cestodes in hypersaline lagoons, lakes and coastal salterns [10,[30][31][32][33][34], which are valuable habitats and breeding grounds for resident and migratory birds (e.g., in South America: [3,35,36]). It serves as an intermediate host for at least 22 cestode taxa, 15 of them hymenolepidids [37], parasitizing flamingos, grebes, waders, gulls, and ducks [12].…”

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

“…at salinity levels >120 g/l) maintain populations of amphibians, reptiles and associated terrestrial taxa (i.e. Mohebbi, 2010; Asem et al ., 2014; Marambio‐Alfaro et al ., 2017), and an extensive diversity of waterbird species depend on these habitats for feeding and breeding [Gajardo & Redón (2019 b ) and references therein; Sorenson, Hoven & Neil, 2020). However, our current understanding of the bio‐geochemical mechanisms sustaining hypersaline biotas is far from complete, raising a compelling need to incorporate multiple disciplines into holistic research designs (Tweedley et al ., 2019).…”

Explaining Variation in Abundance and Species Diversity of Avian Cestodes in Brine Shrimps in the Salar de Atacama and Other Chilean Wetlands

“…Chile has a great diversity of hypersaline biotopes over an extreme latitudinal range, ranging from subtropical high-altitude lagoons in the Atacama Desert to sub-Antarctic lagoons in Patagonia, and including permanent inland and coastal lagoons and temporary salterns [21,22]. Two sexual Artemia species are reported: A. franciscana Kellogg, 1906 widely distributed in the American continent (from Canada to 35 • S in the South Cone of South America) and A. persimilis Piccinelli and Prosdocimi, 1968 restricted to the south of Chile and Argentina [23][24][25][26], providing a valuable system to study how parasite distributions vary in and among geographical locations and between congeners.…”