{"id":20143,"date":"2026-09-07T09:06:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T07:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/els-llacs-salins-del-mon-sostenen-especies-amenacades-i-ofereixen-serveis-ecosistemics-clau\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T10:03:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T08:03:47","slug":"els-llacs-salins-del-mon-sostenen-especies-amenacades-i-ofereixen-serveis-ecosistemics-clau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/els-llacs-salins-del-mon-sostenen-especies-amenacades-i-ofereixen-serveis-ecosistemics-clau\/","title":{"rendered":"World’s saline lakes support threatened species and provide key ecosystem services"},"content":{"rendered":"

An international study<\/a> involving CEAB-CSIC, published in Nature Communications, has reached this conclusion. The analysis of 85 lakes across the globe identified 200 threatened species that depend on these ecosystems, as well as key benefits including local climate regulation and the prevention of harmful dust release into the atmosphere.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The research<\/a> <\/strong>was carried out by a team of more than 60 specialists from 20 countries, representing institutions including the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of Oxford, and the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC).<\/p>\n

According to one of the study coordinators, Egor Zadereev<\/strong>, of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Centre in Siberia: \u201cThe idea was born in 2018 during a limnology conference in China. Alfred Burian and I were discussing why saline lakes are so undervalued. We realised that global-scale data were needed. What followed was a major international effort.\u201d<\/em> Zadereev highlights the contribution of members of the International Society for Salt Lake Research (ISSLR), who provided key knowledge and data that made the global scope of the study possible.<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s other coordinator, Alfred Burian<\/strong>, from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, adds: \u201cWe were working in completely different parts of the world and in ecologically very different ecosystems, yet it was striking to see that management challenges were practically the same everywhere. As more researchers joined the study, this perception only became stronger. Again and again, we heard that saline lakes were facing increasing pressures and were disappearing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Emili O. Casamayor<\/strong>, researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes and co-author of the study, has spent more than 20 years studying the saline lakes of the Monegros desert. He explains: \u201cSaline lakes are often undervalued because they are judged against the services we expect from freshwater lakes, such as drinking water supply, irrigation, or recreation. This study shows how important they are: they support threatened species, harbour a largely unknown microbial biodiversity with key ecological functions and significant biotechnological potential, prevent the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere, and regulate local microclimates. They provide benefits that we do not yet fully understand<\/strong> and that, unless we act quickly to conserve them, we may lose before we even have the chance to discover them.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The team compiled the information through an international survey of saline lake experts<\/strong>, bringing together scientific, local and conservation knowledge.<\/p>\n

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One of the infographics from the scientific article.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the findings was the identification of 200 species included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List<\/strong> that depend on saline lakes in one way or another. Fifty-three per cent are birds<\/strong>, many of which use these lakes as stopover sites for feeding and resting during long migratory journeys, supported by the abundance of algae, brine shrimp (Artemia<\/em>) and other invertebrates. The study also found that saline lakes display some of the highest rates of primary production per unit area.<\/p>\n

The researchers further concluded that these ecosystems harbour life forms with a unique genetic heritage shaped by adaptation to their particular environmental conditions. This is of scientific interest for understanding the evolution and adaptation of life on Earth and potentially on other planets, while also offering industrial applications in food production, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and cosmetics.<\/strong> At salinity levels that can reach ten times that of seawater, microbial communities thrive with unique adaptations to extreme conditions and considerable biotechnological potential.<\/p>\n

Far beyond economic benefits<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Saline lakes tend to occur in arid and semi-arid regions and provide essential ecosystem services that often go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

For example, Lake Turkana, located between Kenya and Ethiopia, evaporates vast amounts of water every day. This moisture subsequently contributes to rainfall in neighbouring regions such as South Sudan, playing a critical climatic role<\/strong> across the wider region.<\/p>\n

Another important example is the dry lakebeds left behind as lakes shrink or disappear. In addition to their role in the global emissions balance, they generate saline dust and release other particles<\/strong> that can be transported by wind over long distances, affecting both human health and ecosystem functioning. One of the best documented and most emblematic cases is the Aral Sea<\/strong>, which has almost completely disappeared as a result of human pressures.<\/p>\n

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However, this phenomenon is not unique to the Aral Sea and also occurs in many other saline lakes, some of them located in particularly vulnerable regions. The atmospheric dispersal of particles and microorganisms is currently being investigated by CEAB-CSIC researchers through projects such as AEROSMIC<\/strong><\/a> and DRYLANDS<\/strong><\/a>, funded by the Spanish State Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Using the Monegros region as a model system, these projects examine how local changes in these wetlands can have global repercussions by promoting the dispersal of microorganisms and connectivity among ecosystems through the atmosphere, while also altering the ecosystem services these environments provide.<\/p>\n

Five recommendations for their conservation<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Saline lakes are particularly vulnerable to climate change<\/strong> and direct human pressures such as land-use changes and water management practices<\/strong>. Their conservation is further complicated by their natural dynamics, as the same lake may alternate between dry phases and periods of substantial expansion.<\/p>\n

Taking these characteristics into account, the researchers summarise five key recommendations for their conservation:<\/p>\n