California: Mono Lake

Saline lakes are threatened globally, and so are the birds that rely on them 

“Terminal” lakes are those that do not drain to the ocean—as water comes in and only leaves by evaporation, these lakes become extremely salty, or “saline”, creating unique and extreme ecosystems. Saline lakes are globally threatened, as the freshwater that feeds them is redirected for agricultural, urban, and industrial use at unsustainable rates. Located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains and fed by snowmelt from its peaks, Mono Lake is 2.5 times saltier than the ocean and supports invertebrate prey for over a million migratory and breeding birds. Mono Lake was “saved” from excessive water diversions to Los Angeles by a legal victory in the 1990s, but faces the continuing threat of dipping below a safe level for its unique ecosystem. It supports one of the largest breeding colonies of California gulls globally, and is a critically important stopover and fueling station for migrating phalaropes and eared grebes. Our work at Mono Lake focuses on phalaropes, long-distance migrant shorebirds that rely on saline lakes from Canada to Argentina.  

Protecting phalaropes and saline lakes across the hemisphere

Oikonos leads hemisphere-wide efforts to coordinate phalarope and saline lake conservation and research throughout the Americas. Our core work is focused on Mono Lake, where we conduct research phalarope population trends and habitat use through surveys, and study phalarope migratory movements using nano-tags. We coordinate surveys with regional partners to create a snapshot of phalarope numbers across major migratory sites in western North America, and coordinate on tagging for movement studies with partners from Canada to Argentina. Our work draws attention to the urgent conservation needs for saline lakes across the Americas, highlighting the story of the Wilson’s phalarope, which relies on saline lakes throughout the entire hemisphere for survival. We co-led a proposal to list the Wilson’s phalarope as Threatened in the United States based on the imminent threats to Great Salt Lake and other key habitats.

In addition to phalarope research, we lead the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey for the Eastern Sierra region, and contribute to other collaborative ecosystem research at Mono Lake. We also co-founded and co-lead the International Phalarope Working Group, made up of researchers and conservationists from throughout the Americas, focused on phalarope and saline lake conservation.