Salt lakes: values, threats and future

Recent desiccation of Western Great Basin Saline Lakes: Lessons from Lake Abert, Oregon, U.S.A.

“…Lessons learned at Lake Abert apply to the worldwide desiccation of endorheic lakes under continuing human actions and increasing drought (Cook et al, 2014;Gutzler and Robbins, 2011;Williams, 1996Williams, , 2000Williams, , 2001Jellison et al, 2008;Zhao and Dai, 2015). Drought drives landscape and waterscape change in arid regions (e.g., Dai, 2011) and drought clearly has a strong control on Lake Abert (Fig.…”

“…Inflows can change in response to natural climate variability, human-induced climate change, and diversion of upstream water sources. Both climate and direct human factors are threatening large saline lakes worldwide (Herbst, 2014;Jellison et al, 2008;Williams, 2000), so that essentially no saline lake of any significant size escapes these effects (Micklin, 2007;Lotfi and Moser, 2012;Wurtsbaugh, 2014). Populations of shorebirds dependent on saline lakes are therefore also threatened, as these critical habitats are lost to desiccation and increased salinization.…”

“…Populations of shorebirds dependent on saline lakes are therefore also threatened, as these critical habitats are lost to desiccation and increased salinization. The disconnect between the needs of ecological end-use (e.g., lakes as habitat for shorebirds) and the over allocation of upstream flows (e.g., desiccation of lakes because of water use for agriculture) is now defining global saline lake environments (Bedford, 2009;Jellison et al, 2008;Jeppesen et al, 2015;Williams, 1996;Wurtsbaugh, 2014). As these lakes decline (Beutel et al, 2001), managing those that remain to preserve threatened shorebird populations requires understanding lake processes in the context of climate and water development.…”

An Overview of Inland Aquatic Habitats

“…2.15) are common worldwide but generally have neither the average size nor the abundance of freshwater lakes [59,78,92] . They are frequently encountered in the prairies and the Great Basin of the western United Sates and in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia of western Canada [78] .…”

Brine shrimp grazing and fecal production increase sedimentation to the deep brine layer (monimolimnion) of Great Salt Lake, Utah

“…All these processes have been studied extensively, particularly in marine and freshwater environments. Much less is known about these processes in saline lakes, despite being so common and ecologically and culturally relevant (Jellison et al, 2008).…”