Productivity of alkali flies, brine shrimp, and birds threatened by increased salinity Water diversions by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) began more than 80 years ago, depriving Mono Lake of water and upending the hydrologic balance…
Until last fall, the Mount Lyell shrew (Sorex lyelli) was the only known mammal in California that had never been photographed alive, despite being scientifically identified more than 100 years ago. That changed in November 2024 when three researchers successfully…
If you like the holidays, birds, and know how to count, then the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is for you! The 2024 CBC marks the 125th year that the National Audubon Society has organized this international community science event. Every…
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley discovered a new organism living in Mono Lake’s water—a species of choanoflagellate they named Barroeca monosierra. Choanoflagellates are single-celled, microscopic organisms that primarily feed on bacteria. Scientists have found that B. monosierra is…
Alkali fly (Ephydra hians) productivity at Mono Lake is a valuable indicator for understanding Mono Lake’s ecosystem health. With a life cycle that occurs almost entirely within Mono Lake’s saline waters and a diet of lake algae, alkali flies and…
The Wilson’s Phalarope is an iconic bird of saline lake ecosystems and a species of rising conservation concern across its range in the Western Hemisphere. A coalition of scientists and conservation groups filed a legal petition to list the Wilson’s Phalarope…
In a captivating and thoroughly enjoyable cover story in the Spring 2024 edition of Audubon Magazine, writer Andy McGlashen has done rare justice to the story of the curiously obscure Wilson’s Phalarope, the saline lakes they depend on, and the…
During February 26–29, 2024 scientists and naturalists met on the shores of Laguna Mar Chiquita in Argentina, one of the largest non-breeding sites for Wilson’s Phalaropes in the world, for the second-ever meeting of the International Phalarope Working Group (IPWG).…
As an endorheic—or terminal—lake with no outlet, Mono Lake loses water naturally only through evaporation. Evaporation is a complex process, influenced by radiation, wind, temperature, and humidity. The rate of evaporation varies across seasons and over the lake’s surface. With…
In the spring, the Mono Lake Committee helped Mono County secure emergency funding from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services for Airborne Snow Observatories (ASO) LiDAR flights that gave us a crucial understanding of the record snowpack. ASO-derived data and…
