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ACADEMIA Letters COVID-19, War Conflict and Aquatic Biodiversity Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, Central University of Kerala Bindhusri Arunachalam, Texas A&M University Showget Ahmad Bhatt, Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Science, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Alwarkurichi 627412, Tamil Nadu, India COVID- 19 once started as an epidemic and has now spread all over the world. The origin of this pandemic virus is from animals (1). Deforestation, ecosystem alteration, illegal trading with wildlife, intensive domestic animal husbandry, and large-scale distribution of animal food are some of the causatives of the viral shifts from one continent to others (2). COVID-19 has crippled the economies at national and international levels but has resulted in a reduction in pollution (3), decline in the demand of oil at a global level and the reduction in NO2 to 30 % (4). Due to lockdown conditions for several months to years the pandemic has resulted in ecosystem recovery and created a positive impact on the world environment. Social distancing is the primary preventive strategy to avoid viral transmission and we have learned many lessons from past pandemics, wars, and financial crises (5).These events were instrumental in governing and adopting policies to conserve national environments. As war conflicts often result in deliberate targeting of water and water infrastructure, contrary to international law, leaving the grave threat to COVID-19 (6). Hence the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution on April, 2, 2020 calling for intensification of international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat the pandemic. Also the U.N. Secretary General has appealed to warring parties around the world to commit to a global ceasefire. Consequences of war and war conflicts on the ecological dynamics of a variety of ecosystems are well known (7). Armed conflicts in natural ecosystems are termed “terrain” in military battlespace terminology taking on an anthropogenic rather than an eco-centric view of natural landscapes during periods of armed conflict (8). Terrestrial warfare often takes place in sensitive and remote locations around the world. More importantly, biological hotspots Academia Letters, December 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, arunacm@gmail.com Citation: Arunachalam, M., Arunachalam, B., Ahmad Bhatt, S. (2021). COVID-19, War Conflict and Aquatic Biodiversity. Academia Letters, Article 4450. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4450. 1 were in the earlier periods for major ground conflict events for on-ground battle within critical habitats of endemic and endangered species (9). Furthermore, modern ground warfare has often altered natural landscapes and impacted wildlife in a number of different ways. Based on this, ecosystem health and integrity are often neglected (10). Destruction of water infrastructure of hydropower dams and dikes in the past, were destroyed by ground battle (11) to avoid the movements of opposing group (12). Destruction of dams can cause a number of ecological consequences, such as siltation, mortality of fish and wildlife populations situated above and below the dam (13). Development and operational use of military training bases would also cause impacts (14). The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is located in central Asia with a mean elevation of more than 4000 m a.s.l. and an area of about 2,300,000 km2. It is surrounded by the Earth’s highest mountains, such as the Himalayas, Pamir, Kunlun Shan, and others, is the highest and most extensive plateau in the world and has long been known as the roof of the world (15). Due to continuous climate and environmental changes there is decreased oxygen pressure, lowered annual temperature, and increased ultraviolet radiation at the high altitudes. These factors imposed harsh physiological challenges to the endemic animals (17). This has also occurred in some fish groups of the TB. Species of Schizothoracine (snow trout), a subfamily of Cyprinidae, dominate the rivers and lake drainages in TP and its peripheral regions (18,19). According to the degree of specialization of their morphological traits, the Schizothoracine species are divided into three groups: primitive, specialized, and highly specialized, with the altitudes of their habitats increasing from the primitive to the highly specialized grade (18,20). However, the “specialized” and “highly specialized” Schizothoracines are intermingled with each other in the high-altitude habitats. The specialized Schizothoracines are mainly distributed in the central part of TP, whereas the primitive ones are found in the peripheral regions (20). Cao et al. (18) suggested that the three phases of uplift of the Tibetan Plateau have contributed to the speciation patterns in the Schizothoracine fishes and their degree of specialization. There are three genera, Gymnodiptychus, Diptychus, and Ptychobarbus, thatare highly specialized (Ptychobarbus conirostris collected from Shyok River by senior author (M. A.) and his graduate student (S.A.B) is illustrated in Fig. 1). These fishes might have originated during the Miocene (about 10 MaBP), but divergence of three genera occurred later during the late Miocene (about 8 MaBP) (21). Their main specialization occurred during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene (3.54-0.42 MaBP). In addition to these specialized fishes there is a group of loaches in the genus Triplophysa of the familyNemacheilidae (Cypriniformes) thatare widely distributed on the TP and adjacent regions. It is a special group adapted to the climatic characteristics of the TP, such as cool temperatures and oxygen shortages (22). Academia Letters, December 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, arunacm@gmail.com Citation: Arunachalam, M., Arunachalam, B., Ahmad Bhatt, S. (2021). COVID-19, War Conflict and Aquatic Biodiversity. Academia Letters, Article 4450. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4450. 2 Recently a deadly brawl killed 20 Indian border troops and unknown number of Chinese soldiers. It has inflamed the tensions at a time when the world is consumed by the Corona virus pandemic. This was happened in Galwan Valley, on the banks of Galwan River in the tributary of Shyok River. China and India stumbled into a bloody clash over the night on an inhospitable terrain on Earth on the night of June, 15, 2020. It was the first deadly clash on the border since 1975 and the deadliest since 1967 (23). Thereafter, high-level talks were witnessed between India–China. It is the latest episode in a border conflict between two nuclear powers, and it is happening in the unique, fragile ecosystem where both the highly specialized fishes of snow trout (Schizothorazinae; Cyprinidae; Cypriniformes) and the loaches occur. Establishments of transport facilities, airstrips, and accumulation of troops from both sides will have a definitive impact on the ecosystem structure and function, and more specifically, the extinction of these specialized high altitude fishes living only above 8,000-10,000 ft. Loaches and other Schizothorazine fishes were also collected from tributaries of Indus River from the Indian side and in the Kargil village with the necessary permission to one of the authors (Fig.1). Even the tension mounts as Chinese troops tried to close in on Indian positions in August 31 as per the CNBCTV18.com on September 1, 2020. The news channel also mentioned that the Indian Airforce deployed almost all its frontline fighter jets like Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft in the key frontier air bases in eastern Ladakh and elsewhere along the LAC. The first three decades of twentieth century are believed to be one of the most highly militarized periods. The death toll by Spanish Influenza during 1918-19 was higher among the troops in the World War (24). Though some improvements are ongoing in the process to ease in military operations by both the countries, strong decisions are essential now in the pandemic COVID- 19 though there is a relief of discovering vaccines. The situation to protect the unique fish diversity in the rarest biodiversity hotspots on the inhospitable terrain on earth during this war conflict and also in post-COVID recovery stages. Academia Letters, December 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, arunacm@gmail.com Citation: Arunachalam, M., Arunachalam, B., Ahmad Bhatt, S. (2021). COVID-19, War Conflict and Aquatic Biodiversity. Academia Letters, Article 4450. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4450. 3 Fig.1 Ptychobarbus conirostris from Shyok River References 1. E.I.Azhar et.al., Evidence for camel-to-human transmission of MERS Coronavirus. N. Engl. J. Med. 370, 2499 (2014). 2. C.Contini et.al., The novel zoonotic COVID-19 pandemic: An expected global health concern. Infect. Dev. Ctries. 14,254 (2020). 3.F. Dutheil, S.Baker V.Navel, COVID-19 as a factor influencing air pollution? Environ.Pollut.263, 114466 (2020). 4. S.Muhammad, Z Xingle Long, M. 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The NewYork Times, July 18, (2020). Academia Letters, December 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, arunacm@gmail.com Citation: Arunachalam, M., Arunachalam, B., Ahmad Bhatt, S. (2021). COVID-19, War Conflict and Aquatic Biodiversity. Academia Letters, Article 4450. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4450. 5 23. Sanjeevkumar, Why is the pandemic likened to a war? The Wire, April 11, (2020). Academia Letters, December 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, arunacm@gmail.com Citation: Arunachalam, M., Arunachalam, B., Ahmad Bhatt, S. (2021). COVID-19, War Conflict and Aquatic Biodiversity. Academia Letters, Article 4450. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4450. 6