Last Wednesday afternoon brought a second hour of engaging ideas to the Mono Lake Committee’s Theater & Gallery, as US Forest Service Senior Scientist Connie Millar gave a provocative and fascinating talk on mountain ecology and climate change; a topic which she has artfully christened “Mountain Climecology.”

Connie Millar discusses mountain climecology with the group. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

The aim of her talk was to illustrate the difficult task of predicting what kinds of ecological changes might result from fluctuations in global temperature and changing climate patterns, and how accepted wisdom about the effects on plants and animals needs to be carefully tested in the field.

Dr. Millar, faced with only 45 minutes to explain and defend her argument, chose several examples from her own research on mountain ecology to illustrate her point. One example was (more…)

Each May, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) submits its annual compliance report to the State Water Resources Control Board. This report contains not only compliance reporting, but the reports from the previous year’s lake and stream monitoring.

Some highlights from the 2011 monitoring include:

• Brine shrimp abundance peaked at over 40,000 shrimp per square meter for seven of the last eight years. This level was only exceeded in five other years during the 1980s (monitoring began in 1982). But it has happened almost every year since 2004.
• The “centroid” of the brine shrimp distribution over time has peaked earlier and earlier each year—as Mono Lake’s salinity has declined, the shrimp have (more…)

Six of us are packed into a small motor boat, laden with kiddie gates, cardboard boxes, and a crate of old sheets. We are reviewing the strategy of our siege as we cross to Twain Island—move quickly, stay low, don’t stop. We are preparing to band California Gull chicks in several research plots on the small islands east of Negit Island in Mono Lake, a monitoring project that started in 1983.

California Gull chicks in a banding corral with the Krakatoa Island basecamp in the background.

By capturing the chicks in small plots that are surrounded by 2-foot-high chicken wire fences, we can examine the birds and extrapolate information on their health and reproductive success. In addition, hopefully the bands we fasten to the chicks’ legs will be seen in the future, allowing us to learn more about these gulls’ migration and nesting. (more…)

GFAJ-1 bacteria.

Follow-up research on GFAJ-1, a Halomonas bacterium cultured from Mono Lake’s shallow marine sediments, is back in the news after two new, independent studies concluded that this strange bacterium does not incorporate arsenic into its biomolecular make-up. This new research runs counter to the claims of an original study by Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon that concluded that GFAJ-1 took up arsenic into its DNA, suggesting that the foundation of biochemistry was perhaps more flexible than was previously known. (more…)

PRBO researchers Kristie Nelson and Nora Livingston tally California Gull nests in May 2011. Photo by Russ Taylor.

Every Memorial Day weekend, PRBO Conservation Science and Mono Lake Committee volunteers count California Gull nests on Mono Lake’s islets as part of a study that has taken place annually since 1983. This year, PRBO’s Kristie Nelson reported that over three days, the group counted 20,056 nests, which was much better than last year’s tally of only 16,700 nests. However, it is still below the long-term average of 23,000. (more…)

A week ago Saturday an unusual event took place on the Dana Glacier at the Sierra Crest. As part of Climate Impacts Day, a project organized by 350.org, a group of climbers unfurled an 80-foot-square banner that read “I’m melting” across the glacier. And it’s true.

Dana Glacier's "I'm melting" banner. Photo courtesy of 350.org.

The article includes a quote about the Sierra’s dramatically-shrinking glaciers from Yosemite National Park’s geologist Greg Stock: “Given the amount of change we’ve seen even over the past few decades, I think it’s safe to say that those glaciers will be gone in 100 years. They may even be gone in 50 years and there’s a chance that some of them will be gone in 20 years.”

Don’t miss your chance to participate in the eleventh annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua on June 15–17. Join us for three full days of fascinating field trips, workshops, and presentations exploring the natural wonders of the Mono Basin. This family-friendly event is open to everyone, and kids under age 12 attend for free.

Wilson's Phalaropes on the wing at South Tufa. Photo courtesy of Marie Read.

Registration opens Sunday, April 15th bright and early at 6:30am so be sure to mark your calendar with that important date. We recommend you take the time to identify your first and (more…)

Calling all saline lake fans…. Register now for the 2012 Great Salt Lake Issues Forum, May 10 & 11 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Great Salt Lake. Photo by Charles Uibel.

Hosted by our sister organization, Friends of Great Salt Lake, the forum will examine “Changing Conditions and the Future of Salt Lakes” this year. This year the program will include speakers from Owens (dry) Lake, the Salton Sea, the Dead Sea, and—of course—Mono (more…)

In December of 2010 NASA researchers announced that they had found bacteria in Mono Lake that could subsist on arsenic instead of phosphorus. The study prompted much discussion on the web and in the scientific community, and raised welcome awareness for Mono Lake’s unique and exciting ecosystem as well as the ongoing research in the area.

Recently, Nature published the news that a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada have been trying to reproduce the results of the original study without success.

Since the January 20 post the web has been buzzing with fresh debate about the original study, the refutation of it, and the further research that is surely to come. Those of us at the shores of Mono Lake look forward to hearing and reading about GFAJ-1 for a long time. And the bottom line? Mono Lake—the source of the bacteria in question—is definitely worth protecting for many, many reasons, including the fact that there is value in looking deeper into research like this.

Have you heard? Mono Lake is for the birds … the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua planning team is hard at work putting together the eleventh annual weekend. Make sure June 15–17, 2012 is marked on your calendar.

Wilson's Phalaropes in flight at South Tufa. Photo courtesy of Marie Read.

Check out the recent updates to the website, and stay tuned as we add this year’s program and schedule. Remember to get up early to register on Sunday, April 15 since spaces fill so quickly.