Solar salterns as model systems for the study of halophilic microorganisms in their natural environments

Most of our understanding of the biology of microorganisms thriving at high salt concentrations is the result of studies of solar salterns for the production of salt from seawater or inland brines. Saltern ponds are convenient model systems to study the microbial diversity and microbial activities from seawater salinity to halite saturation. This chapter summarizes the information gained from the study of salterns, especially highlighting two saltern systems that have been most intensively studied in the past decades: the ponds of Salt of the Earth Ltd. in Eilat on the Red Sea coast of Israel and the Bras del Port saltern, Santa Pola, Alicante, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. These two saltern systems have become excellent model systems for the study of hypersaline microbiology.