Intentional introduction of Artemia sinica (Anostraca) in the high-altitude Tibetan lake Dangxiong Co: the new population and consequences for the environment and for humans

Abstract

The imbalance between supply and demand of Artemia cysts in China and around the world is increasing now. Salt lakes in Tibet may contribute to the solution of the problem. In Northern Tibet there are 26 saline lakes whose salinity and temperature may support Artemia survival at an altitude of 4 000-5 100 m. We found Artemia in 15 of these lakes. The saline lakes with Artemia populations mainly belong to the shallow basin lakes, and the majority of these lakes are small in area. The total area of lakes without Artemia is more than 1 000 km 2 . Lake Dangxiong Co (Co means lake in Tibet) was chosen for the intentional introduction of Artemia sinica . In 2004, 850 g of A . sinica cysts, originating from Qinghai, were introduced in the lake. Surveys in 2006-2014 showed that the average abundance of Artemia adults in the lake gradually increased from 20 ind./m 3 in 2006 to 1950 ind./m 3 in 2013. We assume that two subpopulations of A . sinica , separated by depth, may exist in the lake. The new Artemia population caused an increase in the number of species of phytoplankton and heterotrophic protozoa with a decrease of their total abundance. Water transparency also increased. Dominance in phytoplankton passed from cyanobacteria to diatoms. Changes occurred not only in the lake ecosystem; the number of water birds using the lakes also dramatically increased. Preliminary calculations showed that is it possible to harvest at least about 150 t cysts per year from the lake as well as 3.2 thousand tons of frozen or 350 t of dried biomass of adult Artemia .

Alternative stable states in inherently unstable systems

“…In this case, it is the environmental parameters that are changed. Other examples include state changes in shallow-water coastal ecosystems driven by sediment availability, sea-level rise, and the relative strength of wind waves with respect to tidal currents (McGlathery et al, 2013) and state changes in a lake ecosystem associated with the intentional introduction of the brine shrimp, Artemia sinica (Jia, Anufriieva, Liu, Kong, & Shadrin, 2015). An example of such a shift is the introduction of a new fish species into a shallow lake ecosystem.…”

“…The result is a very different community state in the lake than the one that occurred before the fish were introduced as a new component (ie, as a change in the environment) to the previous stable-state community (Scheffer, Hosper, Meijer, Moss, & Jeppesen, 1993). Other examples include state changes in shallow-water coastal ecosystems driven by sediment availability, sea-level rise, and the relative strength of wind waves with respect to tidal currents (McGlathery et al, 2013) and state changes in a lake ecosystem associated with the intentional introduction of the brine shrimp, Artemia sinica (Jia, Anufriieva, Liu, Kong, & Shadrin, 2015).…”

The long‐term changes in plankton composition: Is Bay Sivash transforming back into one of the world's largest habitats ofArtemiasp. (Crustacea, Anostraca)?

“…Different small animals can be used as live food (Anufriieva, ; Dhont et al, ) but the use of Artemia spp. (Anostraca) cysts is the most developed and promising approach (Anufriieva, ; Cisneros & Vinatea, ; Jia, Anufriieva, Liu, Kong, & Shadrin, ; Lavens & Sorgeloos, ). Variability in the world harvest of Artemia cysts may lead to a fall or rise of global aquaculture production; in 1994 and 1998, a strong decrease in the cyst harvest from Great Salt Lake (USA), a main world cyst producer at that time, had a global negative pronounced effect on the aquaculture industry (Lavens & Sorgeloos, ).…”

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

“…Therefore, long-term monitoring of the crustacean Artemia should help to get a more comprehensive picture of the ecosystem dynamics considering its crucial role in the trophic ecology of these lagoons as well as to predict F I G U R E 2 A conceptual framework for conserving hypersaline lagoons and waterbird habitat in Salar de Atacama in a scenario of increasing lithium exploitation from brine and climate change cascading effects at different trophic levels. For example, the introduction of Artemia in salty lakes in Tibet generated a new ecosystem dynamics that attracted birds not previously present in the lake (Jia, Anufriieva, Liu, Kong, & Shadrin, 2015). The dispersal of Artemia and other halophilic invertebrates and parasites is tightly linked to waterbirds, either by attaching themselves to birds or by surviving the passage of cysts through their guts (Green & Figuerola, 2005;Muñoz, Amat, Green, Figuerola, & Gómez, 2013).…”

“…The crustacean is, therefore, an indicator of habitat degradation, one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in Artemia in the western Mediterranean (Amat, Hontoria, Navarro, Vieira, & Mura, 2007), and is a probable predictor of waterbirds presence and reproduction. For example, the introduction of Artemia in salty lakes in Tibet generated a new ecosystem dynamics that attracted birds not previously present in the lake (Jia, Anufriieva, Liu, Kong, & Shadrin, 2015).…”