Dear Friends,
After over 6 months since our last update, we are setting a more realistic update cycle for the Mono Basin Clearinghouse. We will no longer be attempting to update it monthly. We will do major updates quarterly, with minor updates more often. Look for this email update approximately quarterly. Below is a list of what is new on the site.

RAW DATA
http://www.monobasinresearch.org/data/
        Lee Vining Weather Summaries: August-December 2004, Jan-Feb 2005, and annual summary for 2004.
2004 was cool, with no days above 90 degrees and on average slightly lower temperatures than recent years. Precipitation and wind were similar to recent years (slightly more precip and slightly less wind). January 2005 was the wettest since 1997, and had the coldest mean and max temps in a decade (thanks to snow storms and poconip fog). We also had one of the snowiest Januarys ever. February had pretty average weather (with well-above average snowpack). We have had at least 2 inches of precipitation every month since October, something that hasn't happened since this weather station was established in 1989. So far this winter, precipitation (150% of average) exceeds every year (since 1989) except for 1993, 1995, and 1997.

REPORTS AND STUDIES ONLINE
http://www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/
        Reasonable Further Progress Report for the Mono Basin PM-10 State Implementation Plan, September 2004
Mono Lake is not rising as fast as the model predicted and dust emissions are higher than the model predicted. The report calls for a re-evaluation of the hydrologic model performance.

        Economic analysis of the 3rd Annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua: A survey and analysis of local businesses and participants. Mono Basin businesses and Chautauqua participants were surveyed to evaluate the economic benefits of the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua.

        Working Out an Environmental Ethic: Anniversary Lessons from Mono Lake
By Tony Arnold, courtesy of the Wyoming Law Review (55 pages)

Linked to the following on SORA that resulted from a search for "Mono Lake" (see note under "Links"):
     Spacing Out at Mono Lake: Breeding Success, Nest Density, and Predation in the Snowy Plover
1983 Gary W. Page, Lynne E. Stenzel, David W. Winkler, and Christopher W. Swarth (possibly the best title of a paper ever)

     Sabine Gull at Mono Lake, California
1952 by Earle R. Greene
     Status of the California Gull Colony at Mono Lake, California
1952 R. T. Young        
     An Albino Eared Grebe at Mono Lake
1948 Ken Stott
     Some Notes from Negit Island, Mono Lake, California
1938 Walter F. Nichols
     Eastern Kingbird at Mono Lake
1921 Ralph Hoffmann     
     A New Race of Fox Sparrow, from the Vicinity of Mono Lake, California
1917 Joseph Grinnell, Tracy I. Storer
     A Trip to Mono Lake, Ornithological and Otherwise
1902 Walter K Fisher
This one is also linked from the Historical Information page. Mentions a rising lake, sage grouse avoiding areas with sheep, and general descriptions of the basin.

REPORTS AND STUDIES DATABASE
http://www.monobasinresearch.org/database/
        Herbarium Contents: Microsoft Excel file listing the specimens in the Mono Lake Research Library Herbarium.
        Coming Soon: In the next update of the Website we hope to convert this database section into a "Mono Basin Resources" section highlighting on-the-ground resources for researchers in the Mono Basin. We will feature the new Mono Basin Field Station, along with the Mono Lake Research Library databases already featured here. On a related note, there will be an open house at the Mono Basin Field Station on Saturday June 18th from noon to 3:00 pm.

CURRENT RESEARCH
http://www.monobasinresearch.org/research/
        Migration rates of dunes in the Mono Lake dune field
Lori K. Fenton, Post Doctorate Research Associate, ASU Dept. of Geological Sciences
Spatial and temporal variations in the Mono Lake dune field indicate possible shifts in wind circulation patterns driven by climate fluctuations

        White crowned sparrow article
Tom Hahn (Fall 2004 Mono Lake Newsletter article link added)
        Economic analysis of the 3rd Annual Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua: A survey and analysis of local businesses and participants

River Gates, PRBO; Lisa Cutting, MLC
Mono Basin businesses and Chautauqua participants were surveyed to evaluate the economic benefits of the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua.

        Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA)
Connie Millar, Project Leader; Ann Dennis, Field Project Manager
        Magnetic Microbes
Cody Nash, Caltech and USC
        New Zealand Mud Snail: Found in Rush Creek at densities less than 100 per square meter
David Herbst, SNARL; Debra Hawk, CDFG
        Prehistoric use of Mono Lake's variable wetland habitats over the past 4,000 years
Ryan Brady, CSU Sacramento
Master's Thesis in progress; Last fall completed archaeological surface survey program of randomly selected quadrats around the lakeshore.

LINKS
http://www.monobasinresearch.org/links/
        Mining Claims Map: Environmental Working Group map showing all historic and current mining claims and patents. A good historical research tool but not necessarily representative of real-world ownership patterns. Additional research would be necessary to discover the current owner of some parcels.

        California Watershed Assessment Manual: Science-based approach for watershed evaluations
        SORA - Searchable Ornithological Research Archive: Search through past issues of the Auk, Condor, and other journals.

OTHER
The USGS Butterfly link in the last update was sent to me by Ray Stanford. He also sent a hard-copy list of butterflies for the Mono Lake Research Library. Mono County has 150 species--the 4th highest diversity in CA!

UNSUBSCRIBE
If at any time you decide that you no longer wish to receive these occasional (approx. quarterly) updates about additions to this Website, please email unsubscribe@monobasinresearch.org and ask to be removed from the list. If you know of anyone who would be interested in these updates, please forward them this update and tell them to email research@monolake.org to receive future updates. To see update emails through 2003 visit www.monobasinresearch.org/updates

Thanks for your interest in Mono Basin research,
Greg
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Greg Reis, Information Specialist, (760) 647-6386 x41
Mono Lake Committee, ph (760) 647-6595, fax 647-6377
Hwy 395 & 3rd St., P.O. Box 29, Lee Vining, CA 93541 USA
Websites: monolake.org - monobasinresearch.org -
leevining.com - livinglakes.org - birdchautauqua.org
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The Mono Lake Committee is a non-profit citizen's group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin Ecosystem; educating the public about Mono Lake and the impacts on the environment of excessive water use; and promoting cooperative solutions that protect Mono Lake and meet real water needs without transferring environmental problems to other areas.
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