Conservation of an endemic freshwater shrimp in Lake Poso, Indonesia
Project overview
Lake Poso in Central Sulawesi has become a nature laboratory due to its high diversity and endemicity of limnic taxa, including freshwater shrimp’s genus Caridina. With an area of 323.2 km2 and a maximum depth of ~400 m, Lake Poso, the largest freshwater ecosystem in Central Sulawesi, is subjected to a hydropower plant. This lake is a key biodiversity area and one of Indonesia’s top 15 priority lakes. To date, 11 species of Caridina are are present in Lake Poso, and six species have been assesseas Vulnerable almost a decade ago. However, threats, including human activities, invasive species, and habitat destruction, continue to occur.
Threats
Habitat loss & degradation
Invasive alien species
Pollution
Through this project, we provide the scientific evidence to facilitate the effective conservation strategy of Caridina species in Lake Poso by sampling throughout the lake for population assessment, mapping their distribution, collecting ecology data, recording the threats, and proposing key priority sites. The critical conservation action involved the young generation and the local community through education programs, citizen science, and seminars to raise their awareness and allow them to appreciate the many endemic species in Lake Poso.
Project objectives
- Provide an update on the key threats.
- Provide data on the biology of the populations.
- Identify conservation priority sites related to their ecological needs.
- Provide conservation action through a local citizen science and education program.
Project activities
- Conduct a survey and population assessment of Caridina to determine their population size for baseline data.
- Collect the data on the threats and environmental variables of six species of Caridina.
- Make a seminar with the students and provide a field guide book “Shrimp from Lake Poso”.
- Citizen science program using i-Naturalist.
This project is implemented by Diky Dwiyanto, Department of Biology, IPB University.
