Seasonal and interannual dynamics of Artemia crustacean population from hypersaline Lake Kuchukskoye (Western Siberia)

Abstract

The paper presents the findings of studying the influence of main natural environmental factors on interannual (2017–2018, 2020–2021) and seasonal (from April to October) dynamics of Artemia population from large hypersaline lake Kuchukskoye located in the Kulunda steppe (Altai Krai, Russia). We studied the relationship of 7 key indicators of the population structure (abundance, biomass and age structure) with hydrophysical and hydrochemical indixes (temperature, transparency, pH and total salinity). In different years, hydrophysical and hydrochemical regime of lake Kuchukskoye may vary significantly thus affecting brine shrimp population indicators. The revealed changes in the structure of zooplankton are mainly due to the inhibitory effect of increased salinity on the Artemia population and other taxa.