The whole community pigments and lipids have been examined during a 5-year period in two commercial solar salterns located in the United States and in Israel. There were significant differences in the complexity of the lipid and pigment patterns within the California saltern system, and these differences were not consistent over the sampling period despite examination of ponds with the same salinity. The solar saltern system in Eilat, Israel, showed greater consistency during this sampling period and compared directly with previous studies. The complexity of the saltern in Newark, California, could be explained on the basis of the prevailing weather conditions (cooler and more rainfall) and the nutrient-enriched source water. The Eilat saltern, however, has an oligotrophic water source and has a considerably warmer and drier climate. This difference resulted in more diverse and more complex pigment and lipid patterns and presumably microbial populations in the Newark, California, plant than in the saltern in Eilat, Israel.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.