Seasonal Dynamics of the Hypersaline Lake Oiburg (Crimea) as a Model for Studying Climate Change Effects

Abstract

The studies of seasonal variations of some hydrochemical water characteristics (salinity, oxygen content, temperature, pH, and Eh) and the state of brine shrimp population in the typical hypersaline Lake Oiburg (Shtormovoe Vil., Crimea) have clearly shown their dependence on weather conditions. Variations have been established in the population size of brine shrimp, their life stages in the lake, as well as the extent of nauplii emergence from crustacean cysts (from 0.5% in March to 11.0% in February). Because of the ancient origin of Crimean hypersaline lakes (they number 45), which have formed 6500–7000 years ago, the processes taking place in them can be used to reconstruct the climatic and evolution events on the Earth in the distant geological epochs. The potential use of the annual dynamics of climatic, hydrochemical, and environmental characteristics of a salt lake in the model is discussed in the context of studying the effects of climate warming, the ensuing trends in the abiotic conditions in the water body, and their effect on biota.