Amat, Francisco

Hontoria, Francisco

Maccari, Marta

Medina, German

Navarro, Juan Carlos

Redon, Stella

English

DigitalCommons@USU

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues Volume 15 Saline Lakes Around the World: Unique Systems with Unique Values Article 32 2009 Threatened Artemia biodiversity in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean region Stella Redon Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), Castellon, Spain Marta Maccari Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), Castellon, Spain German Medina Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), Castellon, Spain Francisco Hontoria Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), Castellon, Spain Juan Carlos Navarro Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), Castellon, Spain See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei Recommended Citation Redon, Stella; Maccari, Marta; Medina, German; Hontoria, Francisco; Navarro, Juan Carlos; and Amat, Francisco (2009) "Threatened Artemia biodiversity in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean region," Natural Resources and Environmental Issues: Vol. 15 , Article 32. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei/vol15/iss1/32 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Natural Resources and Environmental Issues by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. Threatened Artemia biodiversity in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean region Authors Stella Redon, Marta Maccari, German Medina, Francisco Hontoria, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Francisco Amat This article is available in Natural Resources and Environmental Issues: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/nrei/vol15/iss1/32 Threatened Artemia Biodiversity in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean Region  Stella Redón1, Marta Maccari1, Germán Medina1, Francisco Hontoria1, Juan Carlos Navarro1 & Francisco Amat1 1Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), 12595 Ribera de Cabanes (Castellón), Spain Corresponding author:  Francisco Amat  Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (CSIC), 12595 Ribera de Cabanes (Castellón), Spain  E-mail: amat@iats.csic.es  Two anthropogenic activities that lead to a decrease in biodiversity are the destruction of habitat and the introduction of exotic species. The autochthonous species of the genus Artemia are being eliminated from hypersaline ecosystems  in  the  Old  World  after  the  introduction of A. franciscana from America. This report summarizes data about the present distribution of the invasive A. franciscana populations identified in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean area. In Spain the most important invaded solar saltern complex is located at the Cadiz salt marshes. The recent finding of A. franciscana in the salterns of Isla Cristina (Huelva Province) shows its range extension from the Portuguese Algarve District to the East, invading the neighbouring Spanish salterns, and from where it has been likely progressing northward, invading up to the Portuguese Aveiro District salterns. Two more important hypersaline environments    in    Spain    have    been    invaded    by    A. franciscana, the Fuente de Piedra hypersaline inland lagoon in the province of Málaga, and the river Ebro Delta salterns in the province of Tarragona (Mediterranean shore). These are important hotspots for potential brine shrimp dispersion, being among the most important nesting areas for flamingos in the Iberian Peninsula. The presence of A. franciscana in the salt marshes and salterns of Salin de Giraud evidences the spread of the invasive species into the Mediterranean French Departments (Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence), probably as a consequence of their location in the West Mediterranean flyway, East of Gibraltar. We have also recently discovered A. franciscana populations in La Guérande salterns in the French Loire Atlantique Department. In the winter and spring of 2007 we used open-air mesocosms to study competitive elimination of the     autochthonous     species     by     the     invasive    A. franciscana. In winter when cold temperatures extended maturation to 40 days, both the invasive and native populations coexisted (Figure 1). However, even under a daily thermal range as low as 10º-20ºC, the invasive species reached maturity earlier than the autochthonous species. Other fitness traits (interbrood interval; fecundity) also provide A. franciscana a competitive advantage. In mid-April temperatures increased markedly, together with a clear decline on phytoplankton availability. Under these conditions all species, except A. franciscana, shifted egg production from ovoviviparous recruitment of nauplii to production of cysts (oviparism). By late May A. franciscana females showed balanced levels of ovoviviparism and oviparism as a result of declining phytoplankton availability. All the other competing species had disappeared from the water column (Figure 1). In a four month period the invasive A. franciscana species had outcompeted the autochthonous bisexual species A. salina and the two parthenogenetic strains.      Figure 1–Changes in population compo-sition in terms of percentages for the different species present in the competition open air mesocosm experiment conducted during the period January–May 2007: AF (invasive A. franciscana), AS (auto-chthonous bisexual A. salina), PD and PT (autochthonous parthenogenetic Artemia, diploid and tetraploid, respectively).         1731Redon et al.: Threatened Artemia biodiversity in the Iberian regionPublished by DigitalCommons@USU, 2009

Threatened Artemia biodiversity in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean region

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Threatened Artemia biodiversity in the Iberian and Western Mediterranean region

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