Dear Friends,
        There is quite a list of updates this quarter for the Mono Basin Clearinghouse (www.monobasinresearch.org)! I'm catching up on adding some things that have been waiting in line for a while, so don't let it surprise you when you see several "new" items from the end of 2004. I didn't fully catch up yet, so look for some missing items such as the 2005 Christmas Bird Count and the 2004 report on gull reproductive success in next update in April. Also, I want to thank all the researchers that are doing the work summarized here, and people that have sent me things to add--thanks for your information and dedication.

CURRENT RESEARCH
www.monobasinresearch.org/research/
        The Great Droughts of Y1K
May 2001 article in Sierra Nature Notes by Scott Stine, California State University Hayward. This article summarizes Dr. Stine's research on the Sierra Nevada's epic droughts.

        Sierra Nevada Climate, 1650-1850
Current article in Sierra Nature Notes by Scott Stine. This excerpt from the SNEP Report summarizes 200 years of climate change in the Sierra Nevada.

        A Brief History of a Long Time: The Past 800 Million Years in the Sierra Nevada
October 2004 Powerpoint presentation by Connie Millar, Sierra Nevada Research Center, USDA Forest Service PSW Research Station, Albany and Lee Vining, California

        Eared Grebe Surveys on Mono Lake
Annual October aerial photos by the California Department of Fish and Game and calculations by Sean Boyd, Pacific Wildlife Research Centre, Canadian Wildlife Service. 2005 numbers are up from 2004 but still relatively low.

        Resurvey of 1914-1920 Grinnell Transects
Article: Global Warming Stalks Yosemite:  Retracing the steps of a meticulous early 20th century biologist, researchers find that some of the park’s tiniest residents have moved a startling distance uphill

        Lee Vining Canyon Bighorn Sheep Research
Updated link to the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation's Website, with a graph showing rebounding populations of sheep Sierra-wide. Also a link to a 2003 article by John Wehausen in Sierra Nature Notes.

        Diurnal Fluctuations in Snowmelt Hydrographs
Jessica Lundquist, University of Colorado, Boulder and Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Michael Dettinger, USGS and Scripps; Daniel Cayan, USGS and Scripps. This research team spends most of its time in the area in Yosemite (and the Yosemite papers are quite relevant to Mono Basin snowmelt), however they have Lee Vining Canyon instrumented with temperature sensors. They also have spot streamflow reads from the Warren Fork of Lee Vining Creek in 2003 and 2004 and a data logger in the stream in summer 2005.

        Paleoclimate and Geochronology of Mono Lake: Revised Chronology and Paleoclimatic Records of the Late Pleistocene Wilson Creek Formation, Mono Lake (CA)

Susan Zimmerman, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Susan's thesis research focuses on the climate history of Mono Lake, CA, and divides into two parts, paleoclimate and geochronology. She is working on sedimentary and geochemical proxies preserved in the Wilson Creek Formation sediments, which record lake level in the basin during the last glacial period.

        Prescribed Fire Studies: JFSP proposal 05-2-1-08 “Evaluating the Effects of Pinyon Juniper Thinning Treatments at a Wildland/Urban Interface.”

USGS, BLM. Documents include the proposal, Categorical Exclusion, a map of the fire plots, and a map of the thinning plots.

RAW DATA
www.monobasinresearch.org/data
        2004 Mono Lake Shorebird Count Results
Compiled by River Gates. Species totals are in column B. There was no count in 2005 due to a lack of volunteers.

        Updated Real Time Data Frames Page for October-March season
Updated Lee Vining rainfall chart for the 2005 water year

        September 2005 Weather Summary for Lee Vining
Highest September wind gust (62 mph) since 2001 (69 mph)
Lowest mean temperature (55) in 10 years
No frost, however - 2004 has the only September frost of the 21st century - although twice we came within 1.5 degrees of freezing in 2005.

        October 2005 Weather Summary for Lee Vining
Warmer than 04, 02, 00; Colder than 03, 01, 99
Less windy than 99, 00, 03, 04

        November 2005 Weather Summary for Lee Vining
Lowest rainfall (0.66") since 2000 --note rain gauge blocked by leaves much of month--rain data shown on summary is incorrect.

High temp was the warmest since 2001
Mean temp was the warmest since 1999

        December 2005 Weather Summary for Lee Vining
Record precipitation (9.23"--note the official NOAA figure is less because it does not include the last day of the month)

At least a trace of precipitation on 24 days of the month
Warmest since 2000
Windiest (87 mph gust) since a 74 mph gust in 1998

        2005 Annual Weather Summary for Lee Vining
The 87 mph wind gust sets a new record for this weather station (since 1996).
2005 was only the third year since 1988 with over 20 inches of precipitation.

        New weather station on Warren Bench at 8900' called "Lee Vining Hill"
This weather station was installed by Caltrans at the top of the avalanche paths just north of Lee Vining. This weather station recorded a 178 mph gust around New Year's. Wind gusts associated with winter storms typically exceed 100 mph on the hill when they are just getting into the 40s in Lee Vining. This is not linked from the Mono Basin Clearinghouse, but from here: http://www.monolake.org/visiting/roadinfo.htm
Access it directly here: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/mwmap.php?map=rev

GIS
www.monobasinresearch.org/gis/
        Eastern Sierra Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
A node of the National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse, and a project of WMRS and ESLIN (Eastern Sierra Land Information Network, an Eastern Sierra Regional GIS User's Group that is now meeting regularly). There are quite a few coverages listed here under "Metadata", from PRBO songbird monitoring to Inyo National Forest grazing allotments to Bighorn Sheep, Bats, Invertebrates, and many coverages from the Inyo County Water Department.

        Google Earth
A link to this Web-streaming application (a fast internet connection is recommended) that allows viewing aerial photos all over the world at 3D angles and various scales.

        Mono County Geographic Services
A link to Mono County's Web-accessible GIS data, including Parcel Viewer, which allows viewing of any parcel in the county along with associated ownership and land use information.

        Cartograph.com - NetMAP Online GIS Network
Tim Tierney, former MLC intern and author of the Mono Basin Geology Field Guide, has launched a Website that offers GIS services. For a fee, it allows sharing of information between researchers that are not physically in the same place, or from a remote field location and a home base. Once you have an account, you can view his shared Mono Basin geology coverages from anywhere with an internet connection!

        SAGEMAP
A GIS Database for Sage Grouse and Shrubsteppe Management in the Intermountain West. Not a new link for our links page, but I just added this link to the GIS section. There is also a "Science Locator" on this site that allows the user to search for research projects. When clicking on the Mono Basin, a list of 35 research projects comes up--none of which are listed on the Mono Basin Clearinghouse! Most appear to be larger-scale projects that include other areas of the Great Basin. I've also added a link to the Science Locator near the top of the "Current Research" page.

LEGAL RESOURCES
www.monobasinresearch.org/legal/
        In Law We Trust: Can Environmental Legislation Still Protect the Commons?
Article in Orion Magazine on the Public Trust Doctrine.
        Petition to List the Mono Basin Area Sage Grouse
Endangered Species Act petition submitted November 10, 2005 by the Stanford Law School Environmental Law Clinic on behalf of The Sagebrush Sea Campaign, Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity, and Christians Caring for Creation

REPORTS AND STUDIES ONLINE
www.monobasinresearch.org/onlinereports/
        A multilocus population genetic survey of the greater sage-grouse across their range
A paper on the genetic differentiation of Sage Grouse, including the distinct Lyon/Mono population.

        PRBO Reports on areas "Nearby the Mono Basin"
A new section on the PRBO page lists reports from the watersheds adjacent to the Mono Basin:
        RIPARIAN BIRD MONITORING AND HABITAT ASSESSMENT IN THE EAST AND WEST WALKER RIVER WATERSHEDS, BRIDGEPORT RANGER DISTRICT, HUMBOLDT-TOIYABE NATIONAL FOREST: Results from the 2001 Field Season

        RIPARIAN BIRD MONITORING AND HABITAT ASSESSMENT IN RIVERINE / RIPARIAN HABITATS OF THE LOWER OWENS RIVER PROJECT: Baseline Results from the 2002 Field Season

        BIRD MONITORING, HABITAT ASSESSMENT AND VISITOR EDUCATION IN MONTANE MEADOW AND RIPARIAN HABITATS OF DEVILS POSTPILE NATIONAL MONUMENT: Results from the 2002 and 2003 Field Season

        ALL-BIRD MONITORING OF ADOBE VALLEY, LLC PROPERTIES IN ADOBE VALLEY AND ENVIRONS: 2005 Progress Report and Project Recommendations

        Mono Basin Willow Flycatcher Project: 2003-2004 Habitat Characteristics Summary
By Chris McCreedy, PRBO Contribution # 831. From Chris: Gary Milano of the Inyo NF requested a habitat summary to complement the 2003 progress report I sent out this summer, which is more directed toward demographic data. This report summarizes nest site data from 2003 and 2004, and territory data from 2003. As you know, the Willow Flycatchers at Rush select Wood's Rose-dominated habitats that are generally found in drier sections of the Rush corridor. The preference for rose cover (and as nest substrate) and dryness of the habitat is somewhat different from other California Willow Flycatcher reports.   While I would recommend (and will eventually compile) more of a sample size, the report provides interesting insight into habitat selection on Rush and additional proof of how the Mono tributaries' restoration is working.

The Wood's Rose-Narrowleaf Willow habitat on Rush can be found in other riparian areas in the Mono Basin and the central Eastern Sierra, and it will be fun to see if the Rush population will provide a source for reoccupation of other creeks in the region.

        Mono Basin Willow Flycatcher Project: 2005 Progress Report
By Chris McCreedy, PRBO Contribution # 1298. November 2005. There were seven Willow Flycatcher territories on Rush Creek in 2005.

        Gadwall Biology in a Hypersaline Environment: Is High Productivity Offset by Postbreeding Mortality?
Issn: 1524-4695 Journal: Waterbirds Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Pages: 335-343 Authors: Jehl, Joseph R.
Only the abstract is available free on the Web; some additional conclusions include:
        Overall, Mono Lake’s value for breeding and migrating ducks is low, because of harsh water chemistry, limited fresh water for drinking and marshes for feeding, and apparent low survival among adults.

        Shoreline ponds at Mono Lake are few and ephemeral.
        The number of Gadwall broods at Mono Lake began to increase in the mid-1990s.
        After stream flows resumed in 1995 and the lake rose 2.4 m in the next 3 years, habitat at Samman's Springs became unsuitable because the springs dried and marsh vegetation was depleted. Concurrently, breeding conditions improved on the western end of the lake as changes in hydrostatic pressure created or renewed springs and marshes. This resulted in a westward shift of brood-rearing sites and increased the importance of the Wilson Creek delta.

        Gadwall at Mono Lake are unique in incurring a form of foot disease characterized by deformed and eroded webs and, in extreme cases, gangrene and loss of podotheca and toes. Found in 86% of young less than three weeks old and 72% of adults, necrosis evidently originates when young abrade their tender feet on the lake's abrasive pumice sand/tufa substrate. The degree to which it may be attributable to chemical (alkali burns) vs. biological causes remains to be studied. The severity of necrosis increases so long as the ducks are present on the lake, but goes into remission after they migrate to fresh water.

        The Central Valley is the major wintering area after first moving to freshwater lakes east of the Sierra.
        The lake's value for Gadwall is limited and that was probably the case even when the lake was higher and less saline, as the duck was not mentioned by early naturalists, and breeding at the lake, itself, was not established until 1976.  Ironically, plans to manage Mono Lake (Jehl claims) ignore species that depend on hypersaline environments in favor of waterfowl, which do not.

LINKS
www.monobasinresearch.org/links/
        Birds of North America Online
Information on over 700 species from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Ornithologist's Union

        Harvey Monroe Hall Research Natural Area
Information about the RNA along with a PDF of the management plan for the area.

        MtnClim - Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Mountains
The MTNCLIM research conferences are dedicated to mountain climate sciences and effects of climate variability on ecosystems, natural resources, and conservation in western North American mountains.

        The Water Cycle - USGS
An educational tool that shows the Water Cycle, in 50 languages.

        AmphibiaWeb
A site inspired by global amphibian declines, is an online system that allows free access to information on amphibian biology and conservation.

        CaliforniaHerps.com
California Reptiles and Amphibians.  An Illustrated Exploration of California's Herpetofauna

        Mono-Inyo Craters Tephra Database
Marcus Bursik of the University of Buffalo gave an excellent talk at the end of August at the Scenic Area Visitor Center on his digital mapping of volcanic features in the area. He maintains a tephra database of the area on the Web. Contact him if you'd like to contribute data.

        USGS Fact Sheets for California
Covering every topic that the USGS investigates, from streamflow to groundwater to volcanoes to earthquakes and more.

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Thanks for your interest in Mono Basin research,
Greg

Greg Reis, Information Specialist
Mono Lake Committee, P.O. Box 29, Lee Vining, CA 93541
760-647-6595 | www.monolake.org