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12/14/2005 Lake George turns green
Contacts www.abc.net.au/southeastsa/stories/s1529182.htm Peri Coleman
We have the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier and the Pink Lake in the Coorong. Beachport can now join the club, because Lake George has turned green. And it is turning fishermen, swimmers and tourists away in droves.

There was once a time when a time when people flocked to the shores of Lake George to waterski, canoe, sail, fish, swim or do some bird observing.

But if you have fond memories of Lake George, chances are they not from this century. These days the lake is far from alluring.

“It’s certainly a queer colour to what it used to be,” reflects local recreational fisherman Frank Corigliano. “And polluted to the eyeballs with whatever.”

Another local fisherman, John Galway, remembers a time when the water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom of the lake – and the fish on your line – even at the deepest point. “You can’t see your hand three inches under the water,” he says of its current state.

Mount Gambier ABC has a web page devoted to the issue of why Lake George has turned green. Issues raised include the effects of the "south-east drains", nutrients, salinity, depth, the maintenance of the artificial channel that connects the lake to the sea (necessary since the lake became the repository of all the south-east drainage waters).

12/5/2005 November 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (48 new references)
Contacts
Balogh, Z., J. Ordogh, A. Gasz, L. Nemet, and T. Bender. 2005. Effectiveness of balneotherapy in chronic low back pain - A randomized single-blind controlled follow-up study. Forschende Komplementarmedizin Und Klassische Naturheilkunde 12: 196-201.

Ben-Itzhak, L. L., and H. Gvirtzman. 2005. Groundwater flow along and across structural folding: an example from the Judean Desert, Israel. Journal Of Hydrology 312: 51-69.

Berrieman, H. K., D. H. Lunt, and A. Gomez. 2005. Behavioural reproductive isolation in a rotifer hybrid zone. Hydrobiologia 546: 125-134.

Boggs, D. A., G. S. Boggs, I. Eliot, and B. Knott. 2006. Regional patterns of salt lake morphology in the lower Yarra Yarra drainage system of Western Australia. Journal of Arid Environments 64: 97-115.

Bulatov, S. A. 2001. Phytoplankton of Turkmen water area of Caspian sea. Pages 59-61 in B. Stanislav, ed. The problem rational use and water resources protection of Turkmenistan. Scientific-practical conference, devoted to the tenth anniversary of the Turkmenistanメs independence. Ylym, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Campillo, S., E. M. Garcia-Roger, D. Martinez-Torres, and M. Serra. 2005. Morphological stasis of two species belonging to the L-morphotype in the Brachionus plicatilis species complex. Hydrobiologia 546: 181-187.

Castaneda, C., J. Herrero, and M. A. Casterad. 2005. Facies identification within the playa-lakes of the Monegros desert, Spain, from field and satellite data. Catena 63: 39-63.

Costelloe, J. F., R. B. Grayson, T. A. McMahon, and R. M. Argent. 2005. Spatial and temporal variability of water salinity in an ephemeral, arid-zone river, central Australia. Hydrological Processes 19: 3147-3166.

Farber, E., A. Vengosh, I. Gavrieli, A. Marie, T. D. Bullen, B. Mayer, R. Holtzman, M. Segal, and U. Shavit. 2005. Management scenarios for the Jordan River salinity crisis. Applied Geochemistry 20: 2138-2153.

Fernandez-Araiza, M. A., S. S. S. Sarma, and S. Nandini. 2005. Combined effects of food concentration and temperature on competition among four species of Brachionus (Rotifera). Hydrobiologia 546: 519-534.

Forester, R. M., T. K. Lowenstein, and R. J. Spencer. 2005. An ostracode based paleolimnologic and paleohydrologic history of Death Valley: 200 to 0 ka. Geological Society Of America Bulletin 117: 1379-1386.

Gama-Flores, J. L., S. S. S. Sarma, and S. Nandini. 2005. Interaction among copper toxicity, temperature and salinity on the population dynamics of Brachionus rotundiformis (Rotifera). Hydrobiologia 546: 559-568.

Gilbert, J. J., and E. J. Walsh. 2005. Brachionus calyciflorus is a species complex: Mating behavior and genetic differentiation among four geographically isolated strains. Hydrobiologia 546: 257-265.

Gunduz, M., and E. Ozsoy. 2005. Effects of the North Sea Caspian pattern on surface fluxes of Euro-Asian-Mediterranean seas. Geophysical Research Letters 32.

Hauer, G., and A. Rogerson. 2005. Remarkable salinity tolerance of seven species of naked amoebae (gymnamoebae). Hydrobiologia 549: 33-42.

—. 2005. Remarkable Salinity Tolerance of Seven Species of Naked Amoebae (gymnamoebae). Hydrobiologia 549: 33 - 42.

Higgins, C. L., and G. R. Wilde. 2005. The role of salinity in structuring fish assemblages in a prairie stream system. Hydrobiologia 549: 197-203.

Keith, J. O. 2005. An overview of the American White Pelican. Waterbirds 28: 9-17.

Kocyigit, A. 2005. The Denizli graben-horst system and the eastern limit of western Anatolian continental extension: basin fill, structure, deformational mode, throw amount and episodic evolutionary history, SW Turkey. Geodinamica Acta 18: 167-208.

Lamontagne, S., F. W. Leaney, and A. L. Herczeg. 2005. Groundwater-surface water interactions in a large semi-arid floodplain: implications for salinity management. Hydrological Processes 19: 3063-3080.

Liti, D., J. Munguti, N. Kreuzinger, and H. Kummer. 2005. Effects of sodium chloride on water quality and growth of Oreochromis niloticus in earthen ponds. African Journal Of Ecology 43: 170-176.

Lojen, S., E. Spanier, A. Tsemel, T. Katz, N. Eden, and D. L. Angel. 2005. delta N-15 as a natural tracer of particulate nitrogen effluents released from marine aquaculture. Marine Biology 148: 87-96.

Morotomi, K., K. Murakami, T. Nagashima, A. Omori, and S. Ichinose. 2005. Changes in two protein components of eggs in anostraca and notostraca. Japanese Journal Of Applied Entomology And Zoology 49: 150-153.

Mura, G., A. D. Baxevanis, G. M. Lopez, F. Hontoria, I. Kappas, S. Moscatello, G. Fancello, F. Amat, and T. J. Abatzopoulos. 2005. The use of a multidisciplinary approach for the characterization of a diploid parthenogenetic Artemia population from Torre Colimena (Apulia, Italy). Journal Of Plankton Research 27: 895-907.

Murphy, E. C., and J. C. Tracy. 2005. Century-long impacts of increasing human water use on numbers and production of the American White Pelican at Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Waterbirds 28: 61-72.

Neumann, K., W. B. Lyons, J. C. Priscu, D. J. Desmarais, and K. A. Welch. 2004. The carbon isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon in perennially ice-covered Antarctic lakes: searching for a biogenic signature. Pages 518-524. Annals Of Glaciology, Vol 39, 2005.

Pasic, L., S. G. Bartual, N. P. Ulrih, M. Grabnar, and B. H. Velikonja. 2005. Diversity of halophilic archaea in the crystallizers of an Adriatic solar saltern. Fems Microbiology Ecology 54: 491-498.

Pavon-Meza, E. L., S. S. S. Sarma, and S. Nandini. 2005. Combined effects of algal (Chlorella vulgaris) food level and temperature on the demography of Brachionus havanaensis (Rotifera): a life table study. Hydrobiologia 546: 353-360.

Paz, J. D. S., D. F. Rossetti, and M. J. B. Macambira. 2005. An Upper Aptian saline pan/lake system from the Brazilian equatorial margin: integration of facies and isotopes. Sedimentology 52: 1303-1321.

Polukonova, N. V., S. I. Belyanina, and T. D. Zinchenko. 2005. Chironomus paraalbidus sp N. (Chironomidae, Diptera) from the Caspian Sea. Zoologichesky Zhurnal 84: 1017-1024.

Purdy, B. G., S. E. Macdonald, and V. J. Lieffers. 2005. Naturally Saline Boreal Communities as Models for Reclamation of Saline Oil Sand Tailings. Restoration Ecology 13: 667-677.

Qiang, M. R., F. H. Chen, J. W. Zhang, S. Y. Gao, and A. F. Zhou. 2005. Climatic changes documented by stable isotopes of sedimentary carbonate in Lake Sugan, northeastern Tibetan Plateau of China, since 2 kaBP. Chinese Science Bulletin 50: 1930-1939.

Roy, P. D., W. Smykatz-Kloss, and R. Sinha. 2006. Late Holocene geochemical history inferred from Sambhar and Didwana playa sediments, Thar Desert, India: Comparison and synthesis. Quaternary International 144: 84-98.

Santo, N., D. Fontaneto, U. Fascio, G. Melone, and M. Caprioli. 2005. External morphology and muscle arrangement of Brachionus urceolaris, Floscularia ringens, Hexarthra mira and Notommata glyphura (Rotifera, Monogononta). Hydrobiologia 546: 223-229.

Savvichev, A. S., Rusanov, II, D. Y. Rogozin, E. E. Zakharova, O. N. Lunina, I. A. Bryantseva, S. K. Yusupov, N. V. Pimenov, A. G. Degermendzhi, and M. V. Ivanov. 2005. Microbiological and isotopic-geochemical investigations of meromictic lakes in Khakasia in winter. Microbiology 74: 477-485.

Schroder, T. 2005. Diapause in monogonont rotifers. Hydrobiologia 546: 291-306.

Shakirova, F. M., and S. A. Bulatov. 2001. Ecology Artemia of the Karabogazgol bay and prospects of its rational use. Pages 64-67 in B. Stanislav, ed. The problem rational use and water resources protection of Turkmenistan. Scientific-practical conference, devoted to the tenth anniversary of the Turkmenistanメs independence. Ylym, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Shuford, W. D. 2005. Historic and current status of the American White Pelican breeding in California. Waterbirds 28: 35-47.

Silberbush, A., L. Blaustein, and Y. Margalith. 2005. Influence of salinity concentration on aquatic insect community structure: a mesocosm experiment in the Dead Sea Basin Region. Hydrobiologia 548: 1-10.

Starkweather, P. L. 2005. Susceptibility of ephemeral pool Hexarthra to predation by the fairy shrimp Branchinecta mackini: can predation drive local extinction? Hydrobiologia 546: 503-508.

Timms, B. 2005. Salt Lakes in Australia: Present Problems and Prognosis for the Future. Hydrobiologia 552: 1.

Van Itterbeeck, J., D. J. Horne, P. Bultynck, and N. Vandenberghe. 2005. Stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment of the dinosaur-bearing Upper Cretaceous Iren Dabasu Formation, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. Cretaceous Research 26: 699-725.

Verschoor, A. M., H. Boonstra, and T. Meijer. 2005. Application of stable isotope tracers to studies of zooplankton feeding, using the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus as an example. Hydrobiologia 546: 535-549.

Vincent, S. J., M. B. Allen, A. D. Ismail-Zadeh, R. Flecker, K. A. Foland, and M. D. Simmons. 2005. Insights from the Talysh of Azerbaijan into the Paleogene evolution of the South Caspian region. Geological Society Of America Bulletin 117: 1513-1533.

Wiemeyer, S. N., J. F. Miesner, P. L. Tuttle, and E. C. Murphy. 2005. Organochlorine contaminants in the American White Pelican breeding at Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Waterbirds 28: 95-101.

Yufera, M., E. Pascual, and J. M. Olivares. 2005. Factors affecting swimming speed in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. Hydrobiologia 546: 375-380.

Zhilina, T. N., V. V. Kevbrin, T. P. Tourova, A. M. Lysenko, N. A. Kostrikina, and G. A. Zavarzin. 2005. Clostridium alkalicellum sp nov, an obligately alkaliphilic cellulolytic bacterium from a soda lake in the Baikal region. Microbiology 74: 557-566.

11/18/2005 US Senate approves water bill providing aid to saline Walker Lake, Nevada, US
Contacts
RENO, Nev. (AP) - The U.S. Senate has approved a multimillion-dollar package of water- and flood-control projects that includes $95 million to help save imperiled Walker Lake.

"With this funding, we are creating a way for everyone to work together and partner with our university experts to solve some of the toughest natural resource challenges in the country," Sen. Harry Reid said of Monday's passage.

"This is a balanced and comprehensive approach to managing land and water in the Walker River basin. It will also mean the beginning of real efforts to save Walker Lake and protect one of our state's most valuable natural resources."

The amendment - originally included in the 2002 farm bill - releases $70 million to the University of Nevada, Reno, for an agricultural and natural resources center to work on research, restoration and educational activities along the Walker River.

Another $10 million will provide for a water lease and purchase program for the Walker River Tribe; $10 million will go toward eradication of the thirsty tamarisk, which sucks up water from native plants, and $5 million for fishery improvements.

Reid, D-Nev., Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., have been working to create a means to release the funding, which was stripped from another spending bill earlier this year.

Louis Thompson, chairman of the Walker River Working Group, said he's hopeful the money will significantly aid efforts to reverse degradation of a lake in "dire straits."

Water levels at Walker Lake have dropped 150 feet over the last 120 years because of water diversions, mainly for agricultural irrigation.

"I hope it will help the process," Thompson said. "If we don't have another good water year - hopefully better than last year - I'm fearful we'll lose the fishery next summer."

Another $3.5 million is included in the energy and water bill for the Army Corps of Engineers to continue the planning and design of the Truckee River Flood Control Project.

At an estimated cost of $350 million, the project is being pursued to avoid floods on the Truckee River of the type that caused nearly $700 million in damage in January 1997.

11/14/2005 October 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (36 new references)
Contacts
Boomer, I., U. von Grafenstein, F. Guichard, and S. Bieda. 2005. Modern and Holocene sublittoral ostracod assemblages (Crustacea) from the Caspian Sea: A unique brackish, deep-water environment. 225: 173.

Borsodi, A. K., A. Micsinai, A. Rusznyak, P. Vladar, G. Kovacs, E. M. Toth, and K.

Marialigeti. 2005. Diversity of alkaliphilic and alkalitolerant bacteria cultivated from decomposing reed rhizomes in a Hungarian soda lake. Microbial Ecology 50: 9-18.

Carini, S., N. Bano, G. LeCleir, and S. B. Joye. 2005. Aerobic methane oxidation and methanotroph community composition during seasonal stratification in Mono Lake, California (USA). Environmental Microbiology 7: 1127-1138.

Dal Farra, C., E. Bauza, and N. Domloge. 2005. Artemia extract helps to restore the decrease in Hsp70 level caused by cell treatment with all-trans retinoic acid, and down-regulates ATRA-induced IL-1 after UV exposure. Journal Of Investigative Dermatology 125: A47-A47.

Falb, M., F. Pfeiffer, P. Palm, K. Rodewald, V. Hickmann, J. Tittor, and D. Oesterhelt. 2005. Living with two extremes: Conclusions from the genome sequence of Natronomonas pharaonis. Genome Research 15: 1336-1343.

Fazio, A., and I. O'Farrell. 2005. Phytoplankton and water quality in a shallow lake: A response to secondary salinization (Argentina). Wetlands 25: 531-541.

Helms, M., O. Evdakov, E. Ihringer, and F. Nestmann. 2005. A hydrologic contribution to risk assessment for the Caspian Sea. Limnologica 35: 114-122.

Hoeft, S. E., F. Lucas, J. T. Hollibaugh, and R. S. Oremland. 2002. Characterization of microbial arsenate reduction in the anoxic bottom waters of Mono Lake, California. Geomicrobiology Journal 19: 23-40.

Hollibaugh, J. T., S. Carini, H. Gurleyuk, R. Jellison, S. B. Joye, G. LeCleir, C. Meile,

L. Vasquez, and D. Wallschlager. 2005. Arsenic speciation in Mono lake, California: Response to seasonal stratification and anoxia. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 69: 1925-1937.

Horrigan, N., S. Choy, J. Marshall, and F. Recknagel. 2005. Response of stream macroinvertebrates to changes in salinity and the development of a salinity index. Marine And Freshwater Research 56: 825-833.

Jehl, J. R. 2005. Gadwall biology in a hypersaline environment: Is high productivity offset by postbreeding mortality? Waterbirds 28: 335-343.

Jeon, C. O., J. M. Lim, J. M. Lee, L. H. Xu, C. L. Jiang, and C. J. Kim. 2005. Reclassification of Bacillus haloalkaliphilus Fritze 1996 as Alkalibacillus haloalkaliphilus gen. nov., comb. nov and the description of Alkalibacillus salilacus sp nov., a novel halophilic bacterium isolated from a salt lake in China. International Journal Of Systematic And Evolutionary Microbiology 55: 1891-1896.

Karr, E. A., W. M. Sattley, M. R. Rice, D. O. Jung, M. T. Madigan, and L. A. Achenbach. 2005. Diversity and distribution of sulfate-reducing bacteria in permanently frozen Lake

Fryxell, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Applied And Environmental Microbiology 71: 6353-6359.

Kaushal, S. S., P. M. Groffman, G. E. Likens, K. T. Belt, W. P. Stack, V. R. Kelly, L. E. Band, and G. T. Fisher. 2005. Increased salinization of fresh water in the northeastern United States. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 102: 13517-13520.

Kilicel, F., and F. Gokalp. 2005. Determination of some heavy metal levels in muscle tissues of Lake Van fish (Chalcalburnus tarichi). Asian Journal Of Chemistry 17: 2425-2429.

Landers, J. 2005. North Dakota begins operating Devils Lake diversion. Civil Engineering 75: 18-18.

Le Callonnec, L., A. Person, M. Renard, R. Letolle, N. Nebout, L. Ben Khelifa, and I. Rubanov. 2005. Preliminary data on chemical changes in the Aral Sea during low-level periods from the last 9000 years. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 337: 1035-1044.

LeCleir, G. R., A. Buchan, and J. T. Hollibaugh. 2004. Chitinase gene sequences retrieved from diverse aquatic habitats reveal environment-specific distributions. Applied And Environmental Microbiology 70: 6977-6983.

Li, Y. H., P. S. Song, S. P. Xia, W. Li, and S. Y. Gao. 2005. Application of the ion-interaction model to the solubility prediction of LiCl-HCl-MgCl2-H2O system at 20 degrees C. Chinese Journal Of Chemistry 23: 953-956.

Liddy, G. C., S. Kolkovski, M. M. Nelson, P. D. Nichols, B. F. Phillips, and G. B.

Maguire. 2005. The effect of PUFA enriched Artemia on growth, survival and lipid composition of western rock lobster, Panulirus cygnus, phyllosoma. Aquaculture Nutrition 11: 375-384.

Lim, J. M., C. O. Jeon, S. M. Song, J. C. Lee, Y. J. Ju, L. H. Xu, C. L. Jiang, and C. J.

Kim. 2005. Lentbacillus lacisalsi sp nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a Saline Lake in China. International Journal Of Systematic And Evolutionary Microbiology 55: 1805-1809.

Lin, J. L., S. B. Joye, J. C. M. Scholten, H. Schafer, I. R. McDonald, and J. C. Murrell. 2005. Analysis of methane monooxygenase genes in mono lake suggests that increased methane oxidation activity may correlate with a change in methanotroph community structure. Applied And Environmental Microbiology 71: 6458-6462.

Liu, W. Y., J. Zeng, L. Wang, Y. T. Dou, and S. S. Yang. 2005. Halobacillus dabanensis sp nov and Halobacillus aidingensis sp nov., isolated from salt lakes in Xinjiang, China. International Journal Of Systematic And Evolutionary Microbiology 55: 1991-1996.

Murrell, M. C., and J. T. Hollibaugh. 1998. Microzooplankton grazing in northern San Francisco Bay measured by the dilution method. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 15: 53-63.

Patel, R., M. Dodia, and S. P. Singh. 2005. Extracellular alkaline protease from a newly isolated haloalkaliphilic Bacillus sp.: Production and optimization. Process Biochemistry 40: 3569-3575.

Polukonova, N. V., S. I. Belyanina, and T. D. Zinchenko. 2005. Chironomus paraalbidus sp N. (Chironomidae, Diptera) from the Caspian Sea. Zoologichesky Zhurnal 84: 1017-1024.

Pujalte, M. J., M. C. Macian, D. R. Arahal, and E. Garay. 2005. Thalassobacter stenotrophicus Macian et al.2005 is a later synonym of Jannaschia cystaugens Adachi et al. 2004, with emended description of the genus Thalassobacter. International Journal Of Systematic And Evolutionary Microbiology 55: 1959-1963.

Qian, Y., Z. Wu, L. Zhang, H. Zhou, S. Wu, and Q. Yang. 2005. Eco-Environmental Evolution, Control, and Adjustment for Aibi Lake Catchment. Environmental Management 36: 506.

Scholten, J. C. M., S. B. Joye, J. T. Hollibaugh, and J. C. Murrell. 2005. Molecular analysis of the sulfate reducing and archaeal community in a meromictic soda lake (Mono Lake, California) by targeting 16S rRNA, mcrA, apsA, and dsrAB genes. Microbial Ecology 50: 29-39.

Song, Y. T., Y. S. Liao, and S. C. Zhang. 2005. Quantification and implications of two types of soluble organic matter from brackish to saline lake source rocks. Chinese Science Bulletin 50: 1490-1494.

Stiehl, T., J. Rullkotter, and A. Nissenbaum. 2005. Molecular and isotopic characterization of lipids in cultured halophilic microorganisms from the Dead Sea and comparison with the sediment record of this hypersaline lake. Organic Geochemistry 36: 1242-1251.

Sun, Y., and T. H. MacRae. 2005. Characterization of novel sequence motifs within N- and C-terminal extensions of p26, a small heat shock protein from Artemia franciscana. Febs Journal 272: 5230-5243.

Xu, X. W., M. Wu, P. J. Zhou, and S. J. Liu. 2005. Halobiforma lacisalsi sp nov., isolated from a salt lake in China. International Journal Of Systematic And Evolutionary Microbiology 55: 1949-1952.

Zhao, C. Y., Y. C. Wang, X. Chen, and B. G. Li. 2005. Simulation of the effects of groundwater level on vegetation change by combining FEFLOW software. Ecological Modelling 187: 341-351.

10/26/2005 XI International Symposium on Rotifera, March 11-18, 2006, UNAM, Mexico City
Contacts www.iztacala.unam.mx/rotiferaXI/ sarma@servidor.unam.mx
Rotifers are small (<1 mm) but beautiful invertebrates, harmless to mankind. Their use as model organisms in teaching courses of biology, as a scandalous group in evolutionary ecology, as baby food in aquaculture and as sensitive indicators of water quality has been widely recognized. The tradition of a periodic meeting of the international rotifer workers initiated by the late Agnes Ruttner-Kolisko has had a stimulatory influence on Rotifer Research. So far nine countries have hosted these symposia (Austria (twice), Belgium, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA and Thailand). The present XI International Rotifer Symposium will be hosted by Mexico under the auspices of the Campus Iztacala of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. It provides an opportunity to interact with an international community of researchers on various aspects of Rotifera. We therefore cordially invite you to participate in this symposium.

10/16/2005 Impact of mining on salt lakes in Western Australia
Contacts brian.timms@newcastle.edu.au
I am concerned about the effect of added salt water from the dewatering of mines on various large salt lakes in the Goldfields of Western Australia. The water added is commonly of the order of >250 g/kg and enough to wet significant areas of impacted lakes. It is sanctioned on the grounds that the lakes are already quite saline, and that the fauna, when present, is euryhaline, but there is very little research on the consequences of these actions.

Enough is now known to warrant a review of the environmental effect of this disposal of mine waters. The problem can be itemised into five issues, listed in increasing order of probability:
1. The salt accumulation may be sufficient to exceed the hatching tolerances of cysts of component crustaceans. Should the receiving lake be small or the affected area be large, then there could be a problem.
2. If the area affected is transformed into a permanent lake, then local fauna (Parartemia spp., ostracods, copepods) is disadvantaged as it is adapted for episodic waters. Worse still, exotic fauna (e.g. Artemia spp.) are advantaged by this and are already present in WA and spreading inland.
3. Heavy metals may occur in lake fauna and be passed up the food chain.
4. Salt accumulation may be sufficient to prevent the lake having a hyposaline stage when it fills from a rare cyclonic input. Salinaland lakes have a largely unstudied and apparently endemic hyposaline fauna. A 10 g/L salt increase is of little effect to a hypersaline fauna, but catastrophic to a hypsosaline fauna.
5. Deposited salt may be reworked during a filling event and left in the lake inlets. This is known to reduce biodiversity in terminal salt lakes, as much of their fauna comes from entering creeks.

The first two possibilities seem not to be an issue at present because the lakes affected are large and remote (but we cannot be sure because of secrecy in the industry), some evidence was presented for the third and fifth possibility at the ISSLR Meeting in Perth and I expand upon the fourth possibility in a forthcoming paper in Hydrobiologia (VOL 552: 5-19). For further information and comment please contact me: brian.timms@newcastle.edu.au

10/10/2005 Lake Bonney to discharge to sea
Contacts
Coastal residents of South Eastern South Australia are concerned about the State government's plans to allow Lake Bonney to drain to sea again, according to the "Border Watch" newspaper. Lake Bonney, a shallow coastal lake has been polluted by discharge from the Kimberly-Clark Australia (KCA) factory. KCA has an indenture with the State government allowing the discharge to continue until 2016. The lake's water quality is now so poor that fishing and boating are no longer undertaken on the lake. Main polluting factors include turbidity, nutrients and organochlorine compounds.
The current proposal is to allow the lake to discharge through Buck's Lake to Gerloff Bay. Local residents are concerned about the possible impacts of the polluted waters on coastal ecosystems. However the Environment Protection Authority has said that it simply wants to reinstate a natural flow path, reinvigorate Buck's Lake anddevise a plan for water levels in Lake Bonney.

9/21/2005 Augusst 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (61 new references)
Contacts
Abatzopoulos, T. J., J. A. Beardmore, J. S. Clegg, and P. Sorgeloos. 2002a. Artemia: Basic and applied biology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, "Dordrecht, The Netherlands".

Abatzopoulos, T. J., L. Brendonck, and P. Sorgeloos. 1999. First record of Branchinella spinosa (Milne-Edwards) (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Anostraca) from Greece. International Journal of Salt Lake Research 8: 351-360.

Abatzopoulos, T. J., I. Kappas, P. Bossier, P. Sorgeloos, and J. A. Beardmore. 2002b. Genetic characterization of Artemia tibetiana (Crustacea: Anostraca). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 75: 333-344.

Abatzopoulos, T. J., C. D. Triantaphyllidis, and C. D. Kastritsis. 1987. Preliminary studies on some Artemia populations from northern Greece. Pages 107-114 in P. Sorgeloos, D. A. Bengtson, W. Decleir, and E. Jaspers, eds. Artemia Research and its Applications. Universa Press, "Wetteren, Belgium".

Abatzopoulos, T. J., G. V. Triantaphyllidis, N. Roedaki, A. D. Baxevanis, A. Triantafyllidis, and P. Sorgeloos. 2002c. Elevated salinities enhance the thermotolerance of hydrated Artemia franciscana cysts. Belgian Journal of Zoology 133: 103-109.

Abatzopoulos, T. J., B. Zhang, and P. Sorgeloos. 1998. Artemia tibetiana: preliminary characterization of a new Artemia species found in Tibet (Peopleメs Republic of China). International Study on Artemia. LIX. International Journal of Salt Lake Research 7: 47-44.

Al-Farraj, A. 2005. An evolutionary model for sabkha development on the north coast of the UAE. 63: 740.

Alvey, S., C. H. Yang, A. Buerkert, and D. E. Crowley. 2005. Bacterial ecology of ancient Saharan salt-enrichment ponds at Teguidda-n-Tessoumt. Journal Of Plant Nutrition And Soil Science-Zeitschrift Fur Pflanzenernahrung Und Bodenkunde 168: 489-495.

Austin, B., D. Austin, R. Sutherland, F. Thompson, and J. Swings. 2005. Pathogenicity of vibrios to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum) and Artemia nauplii. Environmental Microbiology 7: 1488-1495.

Bamford, D. H., J. J. Ravantti, G. Ronnholm, S. Laurinavicius, P. Kukkaro, M. Dyall-Smith, P. Somerharju, N. Kalkkinen, and J. K. H. Bamford. 2005. Constituents of SH1, a novel lipid-containing virus infecting the halophilic euryarchaeon Haloarcula hispanica. Journal Of Virology 79: 9097-9107.

Baxevanis, A. D., and T. J. Abatzopoulos. 2004. The phenotypic response of ME2 (M. Embolon, Greece) Artemia clone to salinity and temperature. Journal of Biological Research 1: 107-114.

Blauwet, D. 2005. New ruby and pink sapphire deposit in the Lake Baringo area, Kenya. Gems & Gemology 41: 177-178.

Brezgunov, V. S., and V. I. Ferronskii. 2005. Natural Tritium as an Indicator of Changes in the Vertical Structure of Caspian Sea Water Mass with Sea Level Variations. Water Resources 32: 365.

Briggs, R. W., and S. G. Wesnousky. 2005. Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoearthquake activity of the Olinghouse fault zone, Nevada. Bulletin Of The Seismological Society Of America 95: 1301-1313.

Briggs, R. W., S. G. Wesnousky, and K. D. Adams. 2005. Late Pleistocene and late Holocene lake highstands in the Pyramid Lake subbasin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada, USA. Quaternary Research 64: 257.

Castaneda, C., J. Herrero, and M. A. Casterad. 2005. Landsat monitoring of playa-lakes in the Spanish Monegros desert. Journal Of Arid Environments 63: 497-516.

Corzo, A., A. Luzon, M. J. Mayayo, S. A. van Bergeijk, P. Mata, and J. G. de Lomas. 2005. Carbonate mineralogy along a biogeochemical gradient in recent lacustrine sediments of Gallocanta Lake (Spain). Geomicrobiology Journal 22: 283-298.

Covi, J. A., and S. C. Hand. 2005. V-ATPase expression during development of Artemia franciscana embryos: potential role for proton gradients in anoxia signaling. Journal Of Experimental Biology 208: 2783-2798.

Covi, J. A., W. D. Treleaven, and S. C. Hand. 2005. V-ATPase inhibition prevents recovery from anoxia in Artemia franciscana embryos: quiescence signaling through dissipation of proton gradients. Journal Of Experimental Biology 208: 2799-2808.

Crespo, J., and P. D. l. Rios. 2004. A new locality for Artemia Leach 1819 (Branchiopoda) in Chile. Crustaceana 77: 245-247.

DasSarma, S. 2005. Saline Systems: A research journal bridging gene systems and ecosystems. Saline Systems 1: 1.

Dawe, R. S., S. Yule, H. Cameron, H. Moseley, S. H. Ibbotson, and J. Ferguson. 2005. A randomized controlled comparison of the efficacy of Dead Sea salt balneophototherapy vs. narrowband ultraviolet B monotherapy for chronic plaque psoriasis. British Journal Of Dermatology 153: 613-619.

El-Bermawi, N., A. D. Baxevanis, T. J. Abatzopoulos, G. Van Stappen, and P. Sorgeloos. 2004. "Salinity effects on survival, growth and morphometry of four Egyptian Artemia populations (International Study on Artemia. LXVII)". Hydrobiologia 523: 175-188.

Ezersky, M. 2005. The seismic velocities of Dead Sea salt applied to the sinkhole problem. 58: 45.

Fricker, H. A., A. Borsa, B. Minster, C. Carabajal, K. Quinn, and B. Bills. 2005. Assessment of ICESat performance at the salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 32.

Gajardo, G., T. J. Abatzopoulos, I. Kappas, and J. A. Beardmore. 2002. Evolution and speciation. Pages 225-250 in T. J. Abatzopoulos, J. A. Beardmore, J. S. Clegg, and P. Sorgeloos, eds. Artemia: Basic and Applied Biology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Goren, M., and B. S. Galil. 2005. A review of changes in the fish assemblages of Levantine inland and marine ecosystems following the introduction of non-native fishes. Journal Of Applied Ichthyology 21: 364-370.

Heifetz, E., A. Agnon, and S. Marco. 2005. Soft sediment deformation by Kelvin Helmholtz Instability: A case from Dead Sea earthquakes. Earth And Planetary Science Letters 236: 497-504.

Helms, M., O. Evdakov, J. Ihringer, and F. Nestmann. 2005. A hydrologic contribution to risk assessment for the Caspian Sea. 35: 114.

Jellison, R., and M. Sevon. 2005. Conservation and management of four large saline lakes in the Western Great Basin (USA). Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 29: 137-139.

Jinbo, T., K. Hamasaki, and M. Ashidate. 2005. Effects of Artemia nauplii density on survival, development and feeding of larvae of the horsehair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) reared in the laboratory. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 71: 563-570.

Johnson, B. J., G. H. Miller, J. W. Magee, M. K. Gagan, M. L. Fogel, and P. D. Quay. 2005. Carbon isotope evidence for an abrupt reduction in grasses coincident with European settlement of Lake Eyre, South Australia. Holocene 15: 888-896.

Kan, J., T. Hanson, J. Ginter, K. Wang, and F. Chen. 2005. Metaproteomic analysis of Chesapeake Bay microbial communities. Saline Systems 1: 7.

Kappas, I., T. J. Abatzopoulos, N. Van Hoa, P. Sorgeloos, and J. A. Beardmore. 2004. Genetic and reproductive differentiation Artemia franciscana in a new environment. Marine Biology 146: 103-117.

Karpychev, Y. A. 2005. Transgressive-regressive stages of the Caspian Sea for the last 20 ky inferred from radiocarbon dating of the coastal and bottom sediments. Oceanology 45: 420-430.

Kolodny, Y., M. Stein, and M. Machlus. 2005. Sea-Rain-Lake relation in the Last Glacial East Mediterranean revealed by a delta O-18-delta C-13 in Lake Lisan aragonites. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 69: 4045-4060.

Lopez-Garcia, P., J. Kazmierczak, K. Benzerara, S. Kempe, F. Guyot, and D. Moreira. 2005. Bacterial diversity and carbonate precipitation in the giant microbialites from the highly alkaline Lake Van, Turkey. Extremophiles 9: 263-274.

Ma, X. C., K. Jamil, T. H. MacRae, J. S. Clegg, J. M. Russell, T. S. Villeneuve, M. Euloth, Y. Sun, J. H. Crowe, F. Tablin, and A. E. Oliver. 2005. A small stress protein acts synergistically with trehalose to confer desiccation tolerance on mammalian cells. Cryobiology 51: 15-28.

Marques, A., T. Dinh, C. Ioakeimidis, G. Huys, J. Swings, W. Verstraete, J. Dhont, P. Sorgeloos, and P. Bossier. 2005. Effects of bacteria on Artemia franciscana cultured in different gnotobiotic environments. Applied And Environmental Microbiology 71: 4307-4317.

McCready, S., J. Muller, I. Boubriak, B. Berquist, W. Ng, and S. DasSarma. 2005. UV irradiation induces homologous recombination genes in the model archaeon, Halobacterium sp. NRC-1. Saline Systems 1: 3.

Oren, A. 2005. A hundred years of Dunaliella research: 1905-2005. Saline Systems 1: 2.

Popova, L. Y., T. V. Kargatova, E. E. Ganusova, T. I. Lobova, A. N. Boyandin, O. A. Mogilnaya, and N. S. Pechurkin. 2005. Population dynamics of transgenic strain Escherichia coli Z905/pPHL7 in freshwater and saline lake water microcosms with differing microbial community structures. 35: 1573.

Rensing, C. 2005. Review of "Adaptation to life at high salt concentrations in Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya" Edited by Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Aharon Oren, and Ana Plemenitas. Saline Systems 1: 6.

Rimmer, A., Y. Aota, M. Kumagai, and W. Eckert. 2005. Chemical stratification in thermally stratified lakes: A chloride mass balance model. Limnology & Oceanography 50: 147-157.

Roberts, M. 2005. Organic compatible solutes of halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms. Saline Systems 1: 5.

Sakurai, R., M. Ito, Y. Ueno, K. Kitajima, and S. Maruyama. 2005. Facies architecture and sequence-stratigraphic features of the Tumbiana Formation in the Pilbara Craton, northwestern Australia: Implications for depositional environments of oxygenic stromatolites during the Late Archean. Precambrian Research 138: 255-273.

Sampei, Y., E. Matsumoto, D. L. Dettman, T. Tokuoka, and O. Abe. 2005. Paleosalinity in a brackish lake during the Holocene based on stable oxygen and carbon isotopes of shell carbonate in Nakaumi Lagoon, southwest Japan. 224: 352.

Sarma, S. S. S., L. Beladjal, S. Nandini, G. Ceron-Martinez, and K. Tavera-Briseno. 2005. Effect of salinity stress on the life history variables of Branchipus schaefferi Fisher, 1834 (Crustacea: Anostraca). Saline Systems 1: 4.

Sattari, M., and B. Mokhayer. 2005. Occurrence and intensity of some parasites in five sturgeon species (Chondrostei: Acipenseridae) southwest of Caspian Sea. Current Science 89: 259-263.

Sestanovic, S., M. Solic, N. Krstulovic, D. Segvic, and I. Ciglenecki. 2005. Vertical structure of microbial community in an eutrophic meromictic Saline Lake. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 14: 668-675.

Sorokin, D. Y., and J. G. Kuenen. 2005. Haloalkaliphilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in soda lakes. Fems Microbiology Reviews 29: 685-702.

Stiehl, T., J. Rullkotter, and A. Nissenbaum. 2005. Molecular and isotopic characterization of lipids in cultured halophilic microorganisms from the Dead Sea and comparison with the sediment record of this hypersaline lake. 36: 1242.

Sun, Y., W.-Q. Song, Y.-C. Zhong, R.-S. Zhang, T. J. Abatzopoulos, and R.-Y. Chen. 1999. Diversity and genetic differentiation in Artemia species and populations detected by AFLP markers. International Journal of Salt Lake Research 8: 341-350.

Szela, T. L., and A. G. Marsh. 2005. Microtiter plate, optode respirometry, and inter-individual variance in metabolic rates among nauplii of Artemia sp. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 296: 281-289.

Taylor, R. L., G. S. Caldwell, and M. G. Bentley. 2005. Toxicity of algal-derived aldehydes to two invertebrate species: Do heavy metal pollutants have a synergistic effect? Aquatic Toxicology 74: 20-31.

Torfstein, A., I. Gavrieli, and M. Stein. 2005. The sources and evolution of sulfur in the hypersaline Lake Lisan (paleo-Dead Sea). Earth And Planetary Science Letters 236: 61-77.

Triantaphyllidis, G. V., T. J. Abatzopoulos, R. M. Sandaltzopoulos, G. Stamou, and C. D. Kastritsis. 1993. "Characterization of two new Artemia populations from two solar saltworks of Lesbos island (Greece): biometry, hatching characteristics and fatty acid profile". International Journal of Salt Lake Research 2: 59-68.

Triantaphyllidis, G. V., P. K. Katinakis, and T. J. Abatzopoulos. 1994. Changes in abundant proteins: intrapopulation and interpopulation study of four parthenogenetic Artemia populations from Northern Greece. Cytobios 77: 197-146.

Uliana, M. M. 2005. Identifying the source of saline groundwater contamination using geochemical data and modeling. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 11: 107-123.

Vellekoop, S., and E. J. v. Etten. 2004. Impact of Discharge of Hypersaline Water from the Cuddingwarra Prospect on the Fringing Vegetation of Lake Austin. Pages 57-70. Proceedings of the Goldfields Environmental Management Group 2004 Workshop on Environmental Management in Arid and Semi-arid Areas. "GEMG, Kalgoorlie", "Kalgoorlie, Western Australia".

Vexler, A., N. Asna, A. Khafif, D. Sarid, and D. Matceyevsky. 2005. Minimizing radiochemotherapy induced acute skin and mucosal toxicity in head and neck cancer patients treated by Dead Sea products. Journal Of Clinical Oncology 23: 526S-526S.

9/21/2005 Tragic death of Ekkehard Vareschi and wife by falling tree
Contacts
We regret announcing untimely death of Prof Ekkehard Vareschi and his wife at the Momela Lakes Reserve caused by a falling tree last Saturday while asleep in their car roof top tent.

Prof. Vareschi had returned with his wife to Africa to spend a year studying Kenyan and Tanzanian soda lakes in his last year before retirement. His important work on Lake Nakuru stands as the most complete ecosystem analysis of a African saline lake to date.

Vareschi, E. (1978). “Ecology of Lake Nakuru (Kenya).1. Abundance and Feeding of Lesser Flamingo.” Oecologia 32(1): 11-35.

Vareschi, E. (1979). “Ecology of Lake Nakuru (Kenya).2. Biomass and Spatial- Distribution of Fish (Tilapia-Grahami Boulenger=Sarotherodon- Alcalicum-Grahami Boulenger).” Oecologia 37(3): 321-335.

Vareschi, E. (1982). “The Ecology of Lake Nakuru (Kenya).3. Abiotic Factors and Primary Production.” Oecologia 55(1): 81-101.

Vareschi, E. and A. Vareschi (1984). “The Ecology of Lake Nakuru (Kenya).4. Biomass and Distribution of Consumer Organisms.” Oecologia 61(1): 70-82.

Vareschi, E. and J. Jacobs (1984). “The Ecology of Lake Nakuru (Kenya).5. Production and Consumption of Consumer Organisms.” Oecologia 61(1): 83-98.

Vareschi, E. and J. Jacobs (1985). “The Ecology of Lake Nakuru.6. Synopsis of Production and Energy-Flow.” Oecologia 65(3): 412-424.

We honor his life and scientific contributions and deeply regret the tragic and untimely death of him and his wife.

8/10/2005 July 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (45 new references)
Contacts
Banks, D., H. Markland, P. V. Smith, C. Mendez, J. Rodriguez, A. Huerta, and O. M. Sæther. 2005. The effect of filtration on analyses of surface water samples. A study from the Salars of Coipasa and Uyuni, Bolivian Altiplano. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 86: 104-118.

Bojar, A. V., A. Rieser, F. Neubauer, H. P. Bojar, J. Genser, Y. J. Liu, and X. H. Ge. 2005. Stable isotopic and mineralogical investigations of an arid Quaternary lacustrine palaeoenvironment, Western Qaidam, China. Geological Quarterly 49: 173-184.

Carini, S., N. Bano, G. LeCleir, and S. B. Joye. 2005. Aerobic methane oxidation and methanotroph community composition during seasonal stratification in Mono Lake, California (USA). Environmental Microbiology 7: 1127-1138.

Castaneda, C., and J. Herrero. 2005. The water regime of the Monegros playa-lakes as established from ground and satellite data. Journal Of Hydrology 310: 95-110.

Castañeda, C., J. Herrero, and M. A. Casterad. 2005. Landsat monitoring of playa-lakes in the Spanish Monegros desert. Journal of Arid Environments 63: 497-516.

Ciglenecki, I., M. Caric, F. Krsinic, D. Vilicic, and B. Cosovic. 2005. The extinction by sulfide-turnover and recovery of a naturally eutrophic, meromictic seawater lake. Journal Of Marine Systems 56: 29-44.

Closson, D. 2005. Structural Control of Sinkholes and Subsidence Hazards Along the Jordanian Dead Sea Coast. Environmental Geology 47: 290-301.

Closson, D., N. Abou Karaki, H. Hansen, D. Derauw, C. Barbier, and A. Ozer. 2003a. Space-borne Radar Interferometric Mapping of Precursory Deformations of a Dyke Collapse - Dead Sea Area. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24: 843-849.

Closson, D., N. Abou Karaki, M. J. Hussein, H. Al-Fugha, A. Ozer, and A. Mubarak. 2003b. Subsidence and Sinkholes Along the Jordanian Coast of the Dead Sea: Contribution of Gravimetry and Radar Differential Interferometry. Compte Rendus Geoscience 335.

Closson, D., N. Abou Karaki, Y. Klinger, and M. J. Hussein. 2005. Subsidence Hazards Assessment in the Southern Dead Sea Area, Jordan. Pure and Applied Geophysics 162: 221-248.

Cozar, A., J. A. Galvez, V. Hull, C. M. Garcia, and S. A. Loiselle. 2005a. Sediment resuspension by wind in a shallow lake of Esteros del Ibera (Argentina): a model based on turbidimetry. Ecological Modelling 186: 63-76.

Cozar, A., C. M. Garcia, J. A. Galvez, S. A. Loiselle, L. Bracchini, and A. Cognetta. 2005b. Remote sensing imagery analysis of the lacustrine system of Ibera wetland (Argentina). Ecological Modelling 186: 29-41.

Dattilo, A. M., L. Bracchini, L. Carlini, S. Loiselle, and C. Rossi. 2005. Estimate of the effects of ultraviolet radiation on the mortality of Artemia franciscana in naupliar and adult stages. International Journal Of Biometeorology 49: 388-395.

De Clercq, P., Y. Arijs, T. Van Meir, G. Van Stappen, P. Sorgeloos, K. Dewettinck, M. Rey, S. Grenier, and G. Febvay. 2005. Nutritional value of brine shrimp cysts as a factitious food for Orius laevigatus (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae). Biocontrol Science And Technology 15: 467-479.

Defoirdt, T., P. Bossier, P. Sorgeloos, and W. Verstraete. 2005. The impact of mutations in the quorum sensing systems of Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio anguillarum and Vibrio harveyi on their virulence towards gnotobiotically cultured Artemia franciscana. Environmental Microbiology 7: 1239-1247.

Dolapsakis, N. P., T. Tafas, T. J. Abatzopoulos, S. Ziller, and A. Economou-Amilli. 2005. Abundance and growth response of microalgae at Megalon Embolon solar saltworks in northern Greece: An aquaculture prospect. Journal Of Applied Phycology 17: 39-49.

Dupraz, C., P. T. Visscher, L. K. Baumgartner, and R. P. Reid. 2004. Microbe-mineral interactions: early carbonate precipitation in a hypersaline lake (Eleuthera Island, Bahamas). Sedimentology 51: 745-765.

Ferrati, R., G. A. Canziani, and D. R. Moreno. 2005. Esteros del Ibera: hydrometeorological and hydrological characterization. Ecological Modelling 186: 3-15.

Freeman, J. A. 2005. Cell differentiation is a primary growth process in developing limbs of Artemia. Biological Bulletin 208: 189-199.

Fuentes, C., A. J. Green, J. Orr, and J. S. Olafsson. 2005. Seasonal variation in species composition and larval size of the benthic chironomid communities in brackish wetlands in southern Alicante, Spain. Wetlands 25: 289-296.

Galiulin, R. V., V. N. Bashkin, and R. A. Galiulina. 2005. Ecological risk assessment of riverine contamination in the Caspian Sea basin: A conceptual model for persistent organochlorinated compounds. Water Air And Soil Pollution 163: 33-51.

Gantes, P., A. S. Caro, F. Momo, M. A. Casset, and A. Torremorel. 2005. An approximation to the nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in floating soils of a subtropical peatland (Ibera, Argentina). Ecological Modelling 186: 77-83.

Georgiev, B. B., M. I. Sanchez, A. J. Green, P. N. Nikolov, G. P. Vasileva, and R. S. Mavrodieva. 2005. Cestodes from Artemia parthenogenetica (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) in the Odiel Marshes, Spain: A systematic survey of cysticercoids. Acta Parasitologica 50: 105-117.

Green, A. J., C. Fuentes, E. Moreno-Ostos, and S. L. R. da Silva. 2005. Factors influencing cladoceran abundance and species richness in brackish lakes in Eastern Spain. Annales De Limnologie-International Journal Of Limnology 41: 73-81.

Han, K., I. Geurden, P. van der Meeren, S. C. Bai, and P. Sorgeloos. 2005. Particle size distribution in two lipid emulsions used for the enrichment of Artemia nauplii as a function of their preparation method and storage time. Journal Of The World Aquaculture Society 36: 196-202.

Harris, W. C., D. C. Duncan, R. J. Franken, D. T. McKinnon, and H. A. Dundas. 2005. Reproductive success of Piping Plovers at Big Quill Lake, Saskatchewan. Wilson Bulletin 117: 165-171.

He, Q. H., D. R. Qiao, Q. L. Zhang, S. J. He, Y. Li, L. H. Bai, Z. R. Yang, and Y. Cao. 2005. Cloning and expression studies of the Dunaliella salina UDP-glucose dehydrogenase cDNA. Dna Sequence 16: 202-206.

Hung, M. C., and Y. H. Wu. 2005. Mapping and visualizing the Great Salt Lake landscape dynamics using multi-temporal satellite images, 1972-1996. International Journal Of Remote Sensing 26: 1815-1834.

Jonkers, H. M., I. O. Koh, P. Behrend, G. Muyzer, and D. de Beer. 2005. Aerobic organic carbon mineralization by sulfate-reducing bacteria in the oxygen-saturated photic zone of a hypersaline microbial mat. Microbial Ecology 49: 291-300.

Kampf, S. K., S. W. Tyler, C. A. Ortiz, J. F. Munoz, and P. L. Adkins. 2005. Evaporation and land surface energy budget at the Salar de Atacama, Northern Chile. Journal Of Hydrology 310: 236-252.

Kellogg, V. L. 1906. A new Artemia and its life conditions. Science 24: 594-596.

Kobayashi, T., T. Nagase, N. Kurano, and A. Hino. 2005. Fatty acid composition of the L-type rotifer Brachionus plicatilis produced by a continuous culture system under the provision of high density Nannochloropsis. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 71: 328-334.

Kompantseva, E. I., D. Y. Sorokin, V. M. Gorlenko, and B. B. Namsaraev. 2005. The phototrophic community found in Lake Khilganta (an alkaline saline lake located in the southeastern Transbaikal Region). Microbiology 74: 352-361.

Kotsyurbenko, O. R. 2005. Trophic interactions in the methanogenic microbial community of low-temperature terrestrial ecosystems. Fems Microbiology Ecology 53: 3-13.

Lobova, T. I., S. N. Zagrebel'nyi, and L. Y. Popova. 2005. The influence of salt concentration on the copy number of plasmid pSH1 replicating in Micrococcus sp 9. Microbiology 74: 296-302.

Melezhik, V. A., and A. E. Fallick. 2004. Palaeoproterozoic, rift-related, C-13-rich, lacustrine carbonates, NW Russia. Part I: Sedimentology and major element geochemistry. Transactions Of The Royal Society Of Edinburgh-Earth Sciences 95: 393-421.

Melezhik, V. A., A. E. Fallick, and A. B. Kumetsov. 2004. Palaeoproterozoic, rift-related, (13)-C-rich, lacustrine carbonates, NW Russia. Part II: Global isotope signal recorded in the lacustrine dolostones. Transactions Of The Royal Society Of Edinburgh-Earth Sciences 95: 423-444.

Montgomery, D. R., and A. Gillespie. 2005. Formation of Martian outflow channels by catastrophic dewatering of evaporite deposits. Geology 33: 625.

Ohkouchi, N., Y. Nakajima, H. Okada, N. O. Ogawa, H. Suga, K. Oguri, and H. Kitazato. 2005. Biogeochemical processes in the saline meromictic Lake Kaiike, Japan: implications from molecular isotopic evidences of photosynthetic pigments. Environmental Microbiology 7: 1009-1016.

Tonolla, M., M. Bottinelli, A. Demarta, R. Peduzzi, and D. Hahn. 2005. Molecular identification of an uncultured bacterium ("morphotype R") in meromictic Lake Cadagno, Switzerland. Fems Microbiology Ecology 53: 235-244.

Torfsteina, A., I. Gavrielia, and M. Steina. 2005. The sources and evolution of sulfur in the hypersaline Lake Lisan (paleo-Dead Sea). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 236: 61-77.

Urbano, L. D., M. Person, K. Kelts, and J. S. Hanor. 2004. Transient groundwater impacts on the development of paleoclimatic lake records in semi-arid environments. Geofluids 4: 187-196.

Van de Meutter, F., L. De Meester, and R. Stoks. 2005. Water turbidity affects predator-prey interactions in a fish-damselfly system. Oecologia 144: 327-336.

Watanabe, K. I., D. Shinozaki, M. Koiso, H. Kuwada, and M. Yoshimizu. 2005. Disinfection of parthenogenetic eggs of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 71: 294-298.

Zhang, X., G. Zhuang, and H. Yuan. 2004. The dried salt-lakes saline soils sources of the dust storm in Beijing; the individual particles analysis and XPS surface structure analysis. Zhonggou Huanjing Kexue (China Environmental Science) 24: 533-537.

7/9/2005 Drying Lake Kills 10000 Turtles
Contacts brian.timms@newcastle.edu.au
The Paroo, southwest Queensland, Australia, is in its fifth year of drought. The episodic saline lakes like L. Wyara have long since dried, but the large, normally subsaline Lake Numalla dried in June this year for the first time in 23 years and only the third time since 1900. As it dried its waters salinised, reaching >100,000 mg/L. Massive bluegreen algal blooms of Arthospira sp. persisted for months. Invertebrate diversity collapsed many months ago and over 10,000 Murray River Turtles died this May. It is not known what killed them: probably not the greatly increased salinity per se, but maybe the collapse of their food chain or perhaps they succumbed to the algal poisons. It is believed this is a natural event. Hopefully the lake will be recolonised again from permament waterholes of the Paroo River, when the lake fills from a river flood. This is unlikely to occur until the present and persistent El Nino conditions give way to a La Nina event. I will be presenting pictures of this lake and its turtles at the forthcoming International Conference on Salt Lakes in Perth, Australia.

7/5/2005 Qinghai Lake the site of avian flu outbreaks
Contacts
The lake is the location of the recent outbreak of deadly avian influenza
strain H5N1, where the death of over 6,000 migratory waterbirds has been
reported since early May, with mainly Barheaded Goose, Great Cormorant,
Ruddy Shelduck, Great Blackheaded Gulls being reported dead. Attached for
your reference is a report from Xinhua News Agency of July 2, 2005 which
indicates that the outbreak may finally be under control.
Bird Flu Outbreak in Qinghai Under Control A spokesperson with the Ministry
of Agriculture said Friday that the bird flu outbreak in northwest China's
Qinghai Province has been "brought under control."

Jia Youling, also director-general of the ministry's Veterinary Bureau, said
the number of migrant birds killed by the disease has dropped to about 20 a
day since June 8.

Thus far, more than 6,000 migratory birds have died since the disease was
reported on May 4.

Jia said the ministry has reported the latest developments to relevant
international organizations.

The governments at all levels in China attach great importance to the
disease's prevention and control and related departments have taken many
measures to prevent it. Since the bird flu outbreak was reported in Qinghai,
the local government has done a lot to prevent the epidemic from spreading,
he said, adding that no fowl or human beings have been infected so far.

Jia said his ministry is studying and testing the virus drawn from the birds
killed by the fatal disease in Qinghai, and the result will be reported to
concerned international organizations as soon as possible.

China has provided five viral strains to the World Health Organization (WHO)
since bird flu cases were reported in the country last year.

The Ministry of Agriculture hopes for closer cooperation with international
organizations and welcomes international experts to Chinese labs for study,
he said.

The WHO has asked China to test some of the birds in the area to determine
if any species were infected with the virus.

Each summer, some 189 species of birds flock to Qinghai Lake, a mating
ground for migratory birds, before heading south and west. Qinghai Lake has
become a popular tourist attraction.

In late May, more than 1,000 wild birds, including geese and gulls, were
killed by the H5N1 flu strain in Qinghai.

In Asia, at least 54 people have died so far this year after being infected
by sick birds, reports said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2005)

6/29/2005 Bugs thrive amid arsenic in salt pan
Contacts
SCIENTISTS HOPE LAKE FINDINGS WILL LEAD TO CLUES ABOUT OTHER PLANETS
By Glennda Chui
Mercury News

In one of the hottest, saltiest, nastiest places on Earth, Bay Area researchers have found microbes that live -- and thrive -- on arsenic.

This hardy community, at Searles Lake in California's Mojave Desert, is apparently the first known ecosystem based on the toxic element.

By studying how it works, scientists hope to find ways to clean up arsenic pollution in drinking water and aid the search for life in the harsh environs of other planets.

``It's very cool,'' said Derek Lovley, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst who was not involved in the study.

``You think of arsenic as being toxic and of microbes, just like humans, trying to find a way of detoxifying it,'' he said. But in this case, Lovley said, ``the organisms are using arsenic the same way we use oxygen'' to carry out respiration.

A team led by microbiologist Ronald Oremland of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park reported the discovery last month in the journal Science.

``This environment that I basically thought was going to be dead was very, very active,'' Oremland said. ``It's full of poison, and we found bugs that can live in the presence of as much salt as you can get.''

Salt pan

Searles Lake is a salt pan -- a thin layer of briny liquid covered by a salty crust. It's one of a chain of lakes on the east side of the Sierra Nevada that has repeatedly filled and dried up over the past 20,000 years, leaving a high concentration of minerals behind.

Mining companies pump dense brine from the lake and use it to produce boric acid, borax and other products. Collectors find spectacular mineral formations along its shores.

But it's the last place anyone would expect to find life.

Summer temperatures around the lake top 100 degrees; temperatures in the brine are even higher, with the salt crust acting as a lid to trap heat.

The water is 10 times saltier than the ocean, highly alkaline and contains 29,000 times the level of arsenic allowed in drinking water.

Until a decade ago, no one thought living things could use arsenic as a source of energy. The first evidence to the contrary was found by Dianne Ahmann, now at the Colorado School of Mines. Since then, more than two dozen microbes have been caught respiring arsenic.

Getting energy

``The thing that's fascinating about these things is that we're very familiar with breathing in air, burning the sandwich we had for lunch to get energy to run around a track,'' said James Hollibaugh, a microbial ecologist at the University of Georgia.

``These organisms have evolved ways of getting energy from processes that don't require free oxygen. In fact they probably evolved first, and some of these processes may be extremely ancient.''

Dianne Newman, a geomicrobiologist at the California Institute of Technology, said, ``To my knowledge it's the first time an entire ecosystem, a whole lake, has been shown to be driven by an arsenic cycle in this way. And furthermore, this particular environment is weird.''

By studying life in such harsh places, scientists hope to find clues to what life might look like on other planets.

``You can make the argument that Searles Lake is an analog of what might have occurred on the surface of Mars when water was more abundant,'' Oremland said. His work is partly funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's astrobiology program, which investigates the potential for life elsewhere in the universe.

These arsenic-swilling microbes could also help scientists figure out how to clean up contamination in places such as Bangladesh, where tens of millions of people are at risk of drinking arsenic-tainted water. Arsenic is not just a poison; it's also linked to several forms of cancer. Most arsenic pollution is natural, although man-made chemicals also contribute.

Arsenic in groundwater is also a problem in parts of the American West, including Nevada, Utah and southeastern California, according to Navin Kumar C. Twarakavi of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Treating water to remove arsenic can be expensive, and scientists would like to find a helpful microbe that changes the toxic form of arsenic into harmless ones.

The Searles Lake microbes are unlikely to help, Oremland said, because they're adapted to living in harsh conditions and could not survive in pure, fresh water. But by understanding how they work, he said, researchers may be able to find -- or design -- other bugs that will do the job.

6/29/2005 May-June 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (40 new references)
Contacts
Abatzopoulos, T. J., N. El-Bermawi, C. Vasdekis, A. D. Baxevanis, and P. Sorgeloos. 2003a. Effects of salinity and temperature on reproductive and life span characteristics of clonal Artemia. (International Study on Artemia. LXVI). Hydrobiologia 492: 191-199.

Abatzopoulos, T. J., G. V. Triantaphyllidis, N. Roedaki, A. D. Baxevanis, A. Triantafyllidis, and P. Sorgeloos. 2003b. Elevated salinities may enhance the recovery of hydrated heat-shocked Artemia franciscana cysts (International Study on Artemia. LXV). Belgian Journal Of Zoology 133: 103-109.

Alvarez-Cobelas, M., J. L. Velasco, M. Valladolid, A. Baltanas, and C. Rojo. 2005. Daily patterns of mixing and nutrient concentrations during early autumn circulation in a small sheltered lake. Freshwater Biology 50: 813-829.

Aritaki, M., and T. Seikai. 2005. Influence of timing of Brazilian Artemia nauplii feeding on occurrence of pseudoalbinism in two pleuronectid species. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 71: 165-171.

Baxevanis, A. D., N. El-Bermawi, T. J. Abatzopoulos, and P. Sorgeloos. 2004. Salinity effects on maturation, reproductive and life span characteristics of four Egyptian Artemia populations (International Study on Artemia. LXVIII). Hydrobiologia 513: 87-100.

Conway, W. C., L. M. Smith, and J. D. Ray. 2005. Shorebird habitat use and nest-site selection in the Playa Lakes Region. Journal Of Wildlife Management 69: 174-184.

Cristescu, M. E. A., and P. D. N. Hebert. 2005. The "Crustacean Seas" - an evolutionary perspective on the Ponto-Caspian peracarids. Canadian Journal Of Fisheries And Aquatic Sciences 62: 505-517.

El-Barmawi, N., A. D. Baxevanis, T. J. Abatzopoulos, G. Van Stappen, and P. Sorgeloos. 2004. Salinity effects on survival, growth and morphometry of four Egyptian Artemia populations (International Study on Artemia. LXVII). Hydrobiologia 523: 175-188.

Gajardo, G., J. Crespo, A. Triantafyllidis, A. Tzika, A. D. Baxevanis, I. Kappas, and T. J. Abatzopoulos. 2004. Species identification of Chilean Artemia populations based on mitochondrial DNA RFLP analysis. Journal Of Biogeography 31: 547-555.

Goldberg, E. L., M. A. Grachev, E. P. Chebykin, M. A. Phedorin, I. A. Kalugin, O. M. Khlystov, and K. V. Zolotarev. 2005. Scanning SRXF analysis and isotopes of uranium series from bottom sediments of Siberian lakes for high-resolution climate reconstructions. Nuclear Instruments & Methods In Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors And Associated Equipment 543: 250-254.

Gorlenko, V. M., P. V. Mikheev, Rusanov, II, N. V. Pimenov, and M. V. Ivanov. 2005. Ecophysiological properties of photosynthetic bacteria from the black sea chemocline zone. Microbiology 74: 201-209.

Hanaee, J., N. Agh, M. Hanaee, A. Delazar, and S. D. Sarker. 2005. Studies on the enrichment of Artemia urmiana cysts for improving fish food value. Animal Feed Science And Technology 120: 107-112.

Hollibaugh, J. T., S. Carini, H. Gurleyuk, R. Jellison, S. B. Joye, G. LeCleir, C. Meile, L. Vasquez, and D. Wallschlager. 2005. Arsenic speciation in Mono lake, California: Response to seasonal stratification and anoxia. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 69: 1925-1937.

Holtzman, R., U. Shavit, M. Segal-Rozenhaimer, I. Gavrieli, A. Marei, E. Farber, and A. Vengosh. 2005. Quantifying ground water inputs along the Lower Jordan River. Journal Of Environmental Quality 34: 897-906.

Ji, J. F., J. Shen, W. Balsam, J. Chen, L. W. Liu, and X. Q. Liu. 2005. Asian monsoon oscillations in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau since the late glacial as interpreted from visible reflectance of Qinghai Lake sediments. Earth And Planetary Science Letters 233: 61-70.

Kalugin, I., V. Selegei, E. Goldberg, and G. Seret. 2005. Rhythmic fine-grained sediment deposition in Lake Teletskoye, Altai, Siberia, in relation to regional climate change. Quaternary International 136: 5-13.

Katunin, D. N., A. A. Belov, N. I. Torgunova, T. B. Semochkina, V. V. Sapozhnikov, V. V. Bulanov, and M. P. Metreveli. 2005. Hydrochemical studies in the middle and southern Caspian Sea from R/V Issledovatel' Kaspiya (October-November 2003). Oceanology 45: 293-296.

Koizumi, Y., H. Kojima, and M. Fukui. 2005. Potential sulfur metabolisms and associated bacteria within anoxic surface sediment from saline meromictic Lake Kaiike (Japan). Fems Microbiology Ecology 52: 297-305.

Laybourn-Parry, J., W. A. Marshall, and H. J. Marchant. 2005. Flagellate nutritional versatility as a key to survival in two contrasting Antarctic saline lakes. Freshwater Biology 50: 830-838.

Luk'yanova, O. N., K. V. Batrak, V. V. Bulanov, A. A. Belov, V. V. Sapozhnikov, and D. N. Katunin. 2005. Hydrological and hydrochemical studies in the central Caspian Sea on board the R/V Issledovatel' Kaspiya (September 17-28, 2004). Oceanology 45: 297-299.

Matusiewiez, M., M. Krzystek-Korpacka, and K. Dabrowski. 2005. Characterization of arylsulfatase activity in brine shrimp, Artemia salina. Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology 317: 175-187.

Meyer, J. S., C. G. Ingersoll, L. L. McDonald, and M. S. Boyce. 1986. Estimating Uncertainty In Population-Growth Rates - Jackknife Vs Bootstrap Techniques. Ecology 67: 1156-1166.

Milner, Y., Y. Soroka, Y. Eibi, F. Bregegere, Z. Maor, I. Nissimov, and R. Neuman. 2005. The aged epidermal cell phenotype and the effect of Dead-Sea salts on the growth and aging of the cells. Journal Of Investigative Dermatology 124: A68-A68.

Moren, M., T. E. Gundersen, and K. Hamre. 2005. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of retinoids in Artemia and copepods by HPLC and diode array detection. Aquaculture 246: 359-365.

Nandini, S., P. Ramirez-Garcia, and S. S. S. Sarma. 2005. Seasonal variations in the species diversity of planktonic rotifers in Lake Xochimilco, Mexico. Journal Of Freshwater Ecology 20: 287-294.

Ndetei, R., and V. S. Muhandiki. 2005. Mortalities of lesser flamingos in Kenyan Rift Valley saline lakes and the implications for sustainable management of the lakes. Lakes and Reservoirs: Research and Management 10: 51-58.

Oviatt, C. G., D. M. Miller, J. P. McGeehin, C. Zachary, and S. Mahan. 2005. The Younger Dryas Phase of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 219: 263-284.

Samuel, M. D., D. J. Shadduck, D. R. Goldberg, and W. P. Johnson. 2005. Avian cholera in waterfowl: The role of lesser snow and Ross's geese as disease carriers in the Playa Lakes Region. Journal Of Wildlife Diseases 41: 48-57.

Sarma, S. S. S., B. Elguea-Sanchez, and S. Nandini. 2002. Effect of salinity on competition between the rotifers Brachionus rotundiformis Tschugunoff and Hexarthra jenkinae (De Beauchamp) (Rotifera). Hydrobiologia 474: 183-188.

Schroder, A., L. Persson, and A. M. De Roos. 2005. Direct experimental evidence for alternative stable states: a review. Oikos 110: 3-19.

Shen, C. M., L. Y. Tang, S. M. Wang, C. H. Li, and K. B. Liu. 2005a. Pollen records and time scale for the RM core of the Zoige Basin, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Chinese Science Bulletin 50: 553-562.

Shen, J., X. Q. Liu, S. M. Wang, and R. Matsumoto. 2005b. Palaeoclimatic changes in the Qinghai Lake area during the last 18,000 years. Quaternary International 136: 131-140.

Sorokin, D. Y., and J. G. Kuenen. 2005. Chemolithotrophic halo alkaliphiles from soda lakes. Fems Microbiology Ecology 52: 287-295.

Tlusty, M. F., J. S. Goldstein, and D. R. Fiore. 2005. Hatchery performance of early benthic juvenile American lobsters (Homarus americanus) fed enriched frozen adult Artemia diets. Aquaculture Nutrition 11: 191-198.

Ulanowicz, R. E. 2004. New perspectives through brackish water ecology. Hydrobiologia 514: 3.

Wang, M., C. L. Liu, P. C. Jiao, and Z. C. Yang. 2005. Minerogenic theory of the superlarge Lop Nur potash deposit, Xinjiang, China. Acta Geologica Sinica-English Edition 79: 53-65.

Zarattini, P., and G. Mura. 2004. Biometrical key-characters for species separation during ontogenesis in fairy shrimps (Crustacea, Anostraca). Hydrobiologia 513: 109.

6/29/2005 Morocco adds 20 new Ramsar sites including salt lakes, works, lagoons, and marshes
Contacts ramsar.org/wn/w.n.morocco_20.htm
The Ramsar Secretariat has the pleasure to announce that the Kingdom of Morocco has designated 20 new Ramsar sites throughout the country and updated the information on its four existing sites. The total area of its Ramsar sites now amounts to 272,010 hectares and covers a variety of wetland types, including some of which are identified as being under-represented in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, and which Parties should give high priority to designating: these include mountain wetlands and seagrass beds. The Aguelmams Sidi Ali -Tifounassine and Lacs Isly-Tislite sites, for instance, comprise a complex of mountain lakes among which are two of the highest lakes in North Africa, which are situated at more than 2,000m in the Haut Atlas mountain range and are among the southernmost representatives of the lacustrine mountain ecosystems of the temperate paleo-arctic bioregion.

Many sites, such as the Complexe du bas Loukkos, the Embouchure de l'oued Dr'a, Embouchure de la Moulouya, Embouchures des oueds Chbeyka-Al Wa'er and Zones humides de l'oued El Maleh comprise river estuaries and salt marshes which play a very important role as refuge, resting and wintering sites for migratory birds, many of which are endangered (Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris, Ferruginous duck Aythya nyroca, Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea and Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii). On the other hand, some coastal sites exhibit great natural beauty, with their inclusion of marine lagoons, sea cliffs, sandy beaches and rocky shores, harbouring high invertebrate, mollusk, planktonic and mammalian biodiversity, and hosting charismatic species such as the monk seal, loggerhead turtle and different dolphin species. Among these sites, one should mention the Cap des Trois Fourches, Archipel et dunes d'Essawira, Baie d'Ad-Dakhla, Marais et côte du Plateau de Rmel and the Sebkha Bou Areg.

A number of sites also include artificial wetland types, such as dam reservoirs, oases associated with irrigated palm plantations, and salt works, which play an important socio-economic role and still host some significant species such as endemic fish and plants, or waterbirds, such as waders. These include the Barrage Al Massira, Barrage Mohammed V, Complexe de Sidi Moussa-Walidia, Moyenne Dr'a, Oasis du Tafilalet and Sebkha Zima. Some sites are relatively pristine, such as the Zones Humides de Souss-Massa, which are part of a national park, while others including the Complexe du bas Tahaddart have suffered from high rates of development and are therefore in more need of stringent conservation measures. We would like to congratulate again the Kingdom of Morocco for its efforts towards the implementation of the Ramsar Convention and recognize the support for these site designations provided by the WWF Global Freshwater Programme and the WWF Mediterranean Programme Office (MedPo).

6/17/2005 Great Salt Lake Rising Again
Contacts
After years of drought, Salt Lake rising

By JENNIFER DOBNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

BRIGHAM CITY, Utah -- The water in the Great Salt Lake has begun rising again after years of drought, changing the landscape and starting to submerge one of Utah's best-known artifacts: an enormous earth sculpture called the Spiral Jetty.

The six years of drought had allowed the curious to flock to the lakeside to see the 1,500-foot-long, salt-encrusted spiral that Robert Smithson built in 1970 using backhoes to pile up rock and earth.

For decades before the dry spell, the jetty had largely been just out of sight beneath the surface of the salty water.

Thanks to a winter of record snowfall, it's not just the spiral Jetty that is changing.

"Change in lake levels can produce significantly more of a change than you'd expect," says Maunsel Pearce, chairman of the Great Salt Lake Alliance, a consortium of conservation groups with interests in the lake. "You really need to see it to believe it."

Sandbars exposed during the drought are now covered with water. Wetlands that had dried into sheets of cracked mud and thin dry grasses are now soggy marshes sprouting thick vegetation.

Water also is inching back toward Antelope Island, although boat docks there remain beached.

The lake's elevation averages about 4,200 feet above sea level, a level at which water spreads out across about 1,700 square miles, according to data kept since 1875 by the U.S. Geological Survey.

But the drought that began in 1999 dropped the surface by about 6 feet, shrinking the lake to just 950 square miles.

As of Saturday, it had gone back up a bit less than 4 feet, according to a USGS Web site.

Such fluctuations are part of what makes the lake beautiful, says Lynn de Freitas, executive director of Friends of the Great Salt Lake. Each climate pattern changes the lake and people's perception of it, she said.

"I guess my excitement is that the lake has the ability to breathe. Those droughts are part of the natural cycles of the lake," she said.

The Great Salt Lake is a remnant of the ancient Lake Bonneville, which more than 12,000 years ago covered some 20,000 square miles of what is now Idaho, Utah and Nevada.

Although just glimmer of its former self, the Great Salt Lake still is the world's fourth largest "terminal lake," where water flows in but doesn't flow out. Water delivered to the lake by four rivers is lost only through evaporation, which concentrates its mineral content, leaving behind a harsh solution in which only salt-tolerant species of brine shrimp, bacteria and algae can survive.

Mineral companies extract selenium and magnesium from the lake bed. Commercial fishermen harvest brine shrimp. Each of those industries and recreational users were affected by the drought and will be again by the rising water, de Freitas notes.

Rising water in the north arm of the lake will dilute the salty water where the Spiral Jetty sits and stimulate bacterial growth that turns the water pinkish-red, offering a different vision of the sculpture, de Freitas said.

"The drama of the ability to see the jetty, I think now is actually improved," she said. "Now the water and is coming up and lapping at the jetty and even though you're slogging through the water, there's still a vague visible presence. I think people will find it more in keeping with the photographs they've seen."

5/24/2005 IUSS Conference on Salinization - September 19-22 Budapest
Contacts www.mozaik.hu/iuss/
Salinization of land and waters is a widespread problem that has serious consequences. Although salinization is a natural process, human-induced salinization has far-reaching negative effects. In spite of the fact that there are similarities in salt-affected lands all over the world, many differences occur in their formation processes and characteristics. Salinization of agricultural lands can be prevented if the process is better understood.

There are two aspects of salinization that call for special attention:
-if the accumulation of sodium is not accompanied by large concentrations of soluble salts, the physical properties, and the resulting soil-water relationship, become a major obstacle in cultivation.
-improper irrigation will typically result in off-site effects, and therefore cause not only physical and financial, but also political-societal conflicts.

The study of salt-affected soils is rather advanced and represents the forefront of soil research. Hopefully the upcoming meeting will make an important contribution towards solving the problems related to salinization.

5/19/2005 Surface Elevation of Dead Sea Continues to Decline
Contacts www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7902962/
For Dead Sea, a slow death
Sea’s water level dropping as Jordan River goes dry
By John Ward Anderson
The Washington Post
Updated: 3:48 a.m. ET May 19, 2005


EIN GEDI, Israel - When the Ein Gedi Spa opened in 1986 to pamper visitors with massages, mud wraps and therapeutic swims, customers walked just a few steps from the main building to take their salty dip in the Dead Sea. Nineteen years later, the water level has dropped so drastically that the shoreline is three-quarters of a mile away. A red tractor hauls customers to the spa's beach and back in covered wagons.

"The sea is just running out, and we keep running after it," said Boaz Ron, 44, manager of the resort. "In another 50 years, it could run out another kilometer," or more than half a mile.

It may sound redundant, but the Dead Sea, one of the world's cultural and ecological treasures, is dying. In the last 50 years, the water level has dropped more than 80 feet and the sea has shrunk by more than a third, largely because the Jordan River has gone dry. In the next two decades, the sea is expected to fall at least 60 more feet, and experts say nothing will stop it.


5/12/2005 Waters from saline Devils Lake to be diverted into Canada
Contacts
By FRANK MCKENNA Published: May 12, 2005 in New York Times (Op Ed)

A CRISIS looms on the United States border with Canada, and it could easily be averted with some research and a little patience.

The problem stems from a body of water in North Dakota known as Devils Lake. The lake has no natural drainage, and because North Dakota has drained surrounding wetlands, it has risen 26 feet since 1993, flooding nearby communities. In Canada, we are sympathetic to the plight of the lake's neighbors, but not to the solution their state has proposed.
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In June, North Dakota plans to open an outlet that will let Devils Lake water travel into the Sheyenne River and on into the Red River, which flows north into Canada. From there the water will eventually stream into Lake Winnipeg and the Hudson Bay watershed.

Devils Lake, a remnant of a shallow glacial sea, is a closed ecological system that has been geographically separate from the surrounding Hudson Bay basin for more than a thousand years. Its salty waters have high concentrations of nitrogen, sulfates and phosphates - minerals that could cause severe digestive distress if consumed and could be lethal to aquatic life. Because of these contaminants, North Dakota does not allow Devils Lake waters to be used for irrigation.

Once the canal is opened, the pollutants will enter the water supply of downstream communities in North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba. Moreover, species of fish, plants, parasites and viruses previously confined in Devils Lake, in some cases for millenniums, will spill out into the Sheyenne and Red Rivers. There they could kill the native plants and fish of the larger ecosystem. The consequences for Lake Winnipeg, the largest freshwater fishery in North America, are particularly worrisome.

Despite concerns on both sides of the border about maintaining safe water sources, North Dakota has decided to pump out Devils Lake water without undertaking any environmental assessment or establishing ecological safeguards.

There is a solution to this impending crisis. Nearly 100 years ago, Canada and the United States established the Boundary Waters Treaty. Under that treaty the two governments set up an International Joint Commission to address differences of opinion involving boundary waters. So far, of the 53 issues the two countries have jointly referred to the commission, 51 have been resolved by mutual agreement.

For over a year, Canada has been requesting that North Dakota put off pumping water while the United States and Canada refer the issue to the commission for a time-limited, independent, scientific review. Both the Canadian and Manitoban governments have stated that they will support the commission's finding, whatever it may be. The governors of Minnesota and Missouri, as well as many other officials, have expressed support for the Canadian request in letters to the United States secretary of state.

At their March meeting in Waco, Tex., President Bush, Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and President Vicente Fox of Mexico pledged to enhance water quality "by working bilaterally, trilaterally and through existing regional bodies." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should demonstrate the strength of that commitment by joining Canada in referring the Devils Lake project to the joint commission.

If instead the Devils Lake project goes forward without a review, it will damage not only the region's environment and economy, but also North America's most important bilateral water management arrangement. There is a better solution.

Frank McKenna is the Canadian ambassador to the United States.

5/11/2005 Study to assess the Dead and Red seas
Contacts washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050509-111539-9645r.htm
(Washington Times, 05/10) "Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority Monday signed an agreement to conduct a feasibility study on building a canal linking the Dead and Red seas."


5/2/2005 April 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (55 new references)
Contacts
Abdullah, A. S. 2005. Performance of a steel structure on Ar-Rayyas Sabkha soils. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering 23: 157.

Abed, A. M., X. R. Arouri, and C. J. Boreham. 2005. Source rock potential of the phosphorite-bituminous chalk-marl sequence in Jordan. Marine And Petroleum Geology 22: 413-425.

Amsinck, S. L., E. Jeppesen, and F. Landkildehus. 2005. Relationships between environmental variables and zooplankton subfossils in the surface sediments of 36 shallow coastal brackish lakes with special emphasis on the role of fish. Journal Of Paleolimnology 33: 39-51.

Ayenew, T. 2002. Recent changes in the level of Lake Abiyata, central main Ethiopian Rift. Hydrological Sciences 47: 493-503.

—. 2004. Environmental implications of changes in the levels of lakes in the Ethiopian Rift since 1970. Reg Environ Change 4: 192-204.

Babel, M. 2004. Models for evaporite, selenite and gypsum microbialite deposition in ancient saline basins. Acta Geologica Polonica 54: 219-U6.

—. 2005. Event stratigraphy of the Badenian selenite evaporites (Middle Miocene) of the northern Carpathian Foredeep. Acta Geologica Polonica 55: 9-U36.

Begin, Z. B., D. M. Steinberg, G. A. Ichinose, and S. Marco. 2005. A 40,000 year unchanging seismic regime in the Dead Sea rift. Geology 33: 257-260.

Burkhalter, J. P., and T. K. Gates. 2005. Agroecological impacts from salinization and waterlogging in an irrigated river valley. Journal Of Irrigation And Drainage Engineering-Asce 131: 197-209.

Butinar, L., S. Santos, I. Spencer-Martins, A. Oren, and N. Gunde-Cimerman. 2005a. Yeast diversity in hypersaline habitats. Fems Microbiology Letters 244: 229-234.

Butinar, L., S. Sonjak, P. Zalar, A. Plemenitas, and N. Gunde-Cimerman. 2005b. Melanized halophilic fungi are eukaryotic members of microbial communities in hypersaline waters of solar salterns. Botanica Marina 48: 73-79.

Costelloe, J. F., R. B. Grayson, and T. A. McMahon. 2005a. Modelling stream flow for use in ecological studies in a large, and zone river, central Australia. Hydrological Processes 19: 1165-1183.

Costelloe, J. F., J. Powling, J. R. W. Reid, R. J. Shiel, and P. Hudson. 2005b. Algal diversity and assemblages in arid zone rivers of the Lake Eyrie Basin, Australia. River Research And Applications 21: 337-349.

de Wit, R., L. I. Falcon, and C. Charpy-Roubaud. 2005. Heterotrophic dinitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) in phosphate-fertilised Microcoleus chthonoplastes microbial mat from the hypersaline inland lake 'la Salada de Chiprana' (NE Spain). Hydrobiologia 534: 245-253.

Dexter, D. M. 1995. Salinity Tolerance of Cletocamptus deitersi (Richard 1897) and its Presence in the Salton Sea. Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 94: 169-171.

Erdinger, L., P. Eckl, F. Ingel, S. Khussainova, E. Utegenova, V. Mann, and T. Gabrio. 2004. The Aral Sea disaster - human biomonitoring of Hg, As, HCB, DDE, and PCBs in children living in Aralsk and Akchi, Kazakhstan. International Journal Of Hygiene And Environmental Health 207: 541-547.

Feng, J. M., T. Wang, S. Z. Qi, and C. W. Xie. 2005. Land degradation in the source region of the Yellow River, northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau: classification and evaluation. Environmental Geology 47: 459-466.

Giri, B. J., N. Bano, and J. T. Hollibaugh. 2004a. Distribution of RuBisCO genotypes along a redox gradient in Mono Lake, California. Applied And Environmental Microbiology 70: 3443.

—. 2004b. Distribution of RuBisCO genotypes along a redox gradient in Mono Lake, California (vol 70, pg 3443, 2004). Applied And Environmental Microbiology 70: 5055.

Green, A. J., M. I. Sanchez, F. Amat, J. Figuerola, F. Hontoria, O. Ruiz, and F. Hortas. 2005. Dispersal of invasive and native brine shrimps Artemia (Anostraca) via waterbirds. Limnology And Oceanography 50: 737-742.

Guseinov, M. K., M. M. Osmanov, and K. M. Guseinov. 2005. Characteristics in the pelagic ecosystem of the Dagestan region of the Caspian Sea under the impact of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi (A-agassiz). Oceanology 45: 62-65.

Hope, P. K., N. Nicholls, and J. L. McGregor. 2004. The rainfall response to permanent inland water in Australia. Australian Meteorological Magazine 53: 251-262.

Ignoffo, T. R., S. M. Bollens, and A. B. Bochdansky. 2005. The effects of thin layers on the vertical distribution of the rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis. Journal Of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology 316: 167-181.

Joeckel, R. M., and B. J. Ang Clement. 2005. Soils, surficial geology, and geomicrobiology of saline-sodic wetlands, North Platte River Valley, Nebraska, USA. CATENA 61: 63.

Joeckel, R. M., and R. F. Diffendal. 2004. Geomorphic and environmental change around a large, aging reservoir: Lake C. W. McConaughy, Western Nebraska, USA. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 10: 69-90.

Kefford, B. J., C. G. Palmer, and D. Nugegoda. 2005. Relative salinity tolerance of freshwater macroinvertebrates from the south-east Eastern Cape, South Africa compared with the Barwon Catchment, Victoria, Australia. Marine And Freshwater Research 56: 163-171.

Kilicel, F., and F. Gokalp. 2005. Aas determination of some trace heavy metals in Lake Van water after preconcentration by complexation with surface functional groups on activated carbon. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 14: 124-129.

Liu, X. D., and Y. G. Shen. 2005. Salt-induced redox-independent phosphorylation of light harvesting chlorophyll a/b proteins in Dunaliella salina thylakoid membranes. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta-Bioenergetics 1706: 215-219.

Lowe, C. D., S. J. Kemp, A. D. Bates, and D. J. S. Montagnes. 2005. Evidence that the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis is not an osmoconformer. Marine Biology 146: 923-929.

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4/20/2005 $26 million targets Salton Sea restoration projects
Contacts
$26 million targets Salton Sea restoration projects
By REBECCA ADAMUS, Special to Imperial Valley Press

WASHINGTON (MNS) —Congress' ears are perking up to the cry of the Salton Sea, which is beset by a host of environmental problems that must be addressed sooner rather than later, local authorities and lawmakers say.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reauthorized $1.1 billion in funding Wednesday for water projects throughout California. Included in the package was $26 million to Imperial County for Salton Sea restoration projects.

"These are actual pilot projects that are going to be moving forward that we hope will get funding and will start the process," said David Sandretti, a spokesman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who sits on the committee. "This is a massive environmental disaster on our hands that is going to take a huge commitment of both federal and local resources."

Sandretti said he expects the bill to go to the Senate floor sometime in June. Provided it is actually appropriated, the money would be distributed to the Salton Sea Authority, he added. Federal funding amounts to $16.9 million, and the Salton Sea Authority will have to match the federal funds with $9.1 million. No project may exceed $5 million.

Odor control, salt evaporation and wetlands construction are some of the restoration projects likely to be funded under a final bill.

Numerous federal and state studies have been conducted over the years to determine the types of projects that would best work for the sea. But the time for studies is over, according to Brian Nestande, a Salton Sea Authority consultant.

"We don't want to do any more studies," he said. "Our board is still making technical changes and coming up with the final solution," but by the time the bill passes later this year, the authority will be ready to construct a project, he said.

The language of the Salton Sea section of the bill, however, calls for yet another study. It says "a special study" must determine that all projects meet environmental and economic conditions of the Salton Sea Reclamation Act of 1998.

Rather than sending the results of that study back to Congress for more authorization — often standard operating procedure, according to Sandretti — the section also says the Salton Sea Authority will be allowed to move forward with implementing projects.

"The extra language helps speed this along," Sandretti said.

Although "$26 million is fantastic," it's too early to get excited, Nestande said. He will wait and see what happens as the bill moves through full committee and the Senate, he added.

4/1/2005 March 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (20 new references)
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3/14/2005 Jan-Feb 2005 ISSLR Research Bibliography Update (75 new references)
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3/4/2005 U.S. Allows Trade in Caviar of Threatened Beluga Sturgeon
Contacts
WASHINGTON, DC, March 4, 2005 (ENS) - A special rule to exempt trade in meat and caviar from threatened beluga sturgeon from permits normally required under the Endangered Species Act was issued Thursday by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Currently, eight coastal countries with indigenous beluga populations allow the commercial harvest and export of beluga sturgeon: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkmenistan.

"We believe this special rule provides great incentives to countries harvesting beluga sturgeon to work with the U.S. to restore and conserve wild populations," said Service Director Steve Williams. "The rule is also an effective tool to encourage aquaculture facilities to get involved in the recovery of these economically valuable fish."

Environmentalists and marine scientists criticized the new policy which applies to international, foreign and interstate commerce. They cited evidence of the sturgeon's decline in recent years, and said the exemption could mean extinction of the most valuable fish in the world.

Caviar Emptor - a coalition of SeaWeb, Natural Resources Defense Council and the University of Miami’s Pew Institute for Ocean Science - said it had expected the Service to restrict or ban beluga caviar imports after the agency placed beluga sturgeon on the threatened species list last year.

The ruling comes after a four year struggle by conservationists to reverse the decline of the beluga, whose population in the Caspian Sea has plummeted by 90 percent in the past two decades due to overfishing, pollution, habitat loss and lack of effective governmental management.

Caviar Emptor has been urging protection for the fish since it petitioned the government in December 2000 to list the fish as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

“Science shows that the best chance for recovery would have been to give beluga sturgeon a complete break. Today’s decision falls short of that,” said Dr. Ellen Pikitch, professor and director of the University of Miami’s Pew Institute for Ocean Science.

“The candle is burning on both ends for the species, with surveys showing fewer and fewer young fish entering the population and many adults killed for their caviar before having a chance to reproduce."

The eight countries must submit written management plans, annual reports and copies of national fishing laws on a specified schedule to the Service in order to use this exemption. If an exporting country fails to meet that schedule, then U.S. importers would have to comply with all the Act's permitting requirements for threatened species.

The sturgeon range countries have six months from today to submit their beluga sturgeon conservation and management plans to the Service for review.

Williams said that during this time, imports, re-exports, and interstate commerce of certain beluga sturgeon products will not require threatened species permits, but still must be accompanied by permits issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a global agreement that monitors and controls trade in fish, wildlife and plants through a system of permits.

Lisa Speer, senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “We are extremely disappointed that the beluga caviar trade was not banned. This decision does not go far enough to provide beluga sturgeon with the protection it needs, especially given that the U.S. is the world’s largest importer of beluga caviar.”

“It is in the hands of consumers to help save this species,” said Dawn Martin, executive director of SeaWeb. “It doesn’t make sense to eat the eggs of a threatened species such as beluga sturgeon. There are a number of exquisite American caviars in which we can indulge with pure enjoyment and without guilt.”

2/28/2005 Great Salt Lake Mercury Worries Scientists - February 22, 2005 — By Associated Press
Contacts
SALT LAKE CITY — Federal scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have found some of the highest levels of mercury ever measured anywhere -- prompting concern about some of the migratory birds that feed on the lake's brine shrimp.

U.S. Geological Survey and Fish and Wildlife Service researchers were initially gathering information on selenium in the lake, but decided also to test the samples for mercury.

Concentrations of methylmercury -- the element's most poisonous form -- exceeded 25 nanograms per liter of water. Fish consumption warnings have been issued when there was just 1 nanogram per liter.

"We thought we would find some high levels of methylmercury," said David Naftz, the USGS research hydrologist who is heading the Great Salt Lake project, "but not some of the highest (the USGS) has ever found."

There are no fish in the Great Salt Lake, and no evidence yet that mercury from the lake is getting into the human food chain. But the brine shrimp the project scientists have studied show evidence of mercury buildup that could be harmful to the lake's migratory birds.

The bird they studied is the eared grebe, which eats brine shrimp from May to December. The researchers found mercury levels in the birds' livers more than doubled during their months on the lake.

The study's preliminary findings eventually may overturn the long-held idea that areas of the lake's deep brine layer, which has no oxygen, is a kind of disposal system where toxins sink to the lake bed and become inert. Instead, the USGS study suggests the lake's peculiar chemistry actually speeds the conversion of mercury to its more toxic organic form.

"It's not a disposal, it's a factory," Naftz said.

Mercury is a highly toxic element that occurs naturally in the environment but also has been introduced through mining and industrial activity.

Though the USGS studies have not found any evidence that mercury in the Great Salt Lake has entered the human food chain, ducks and geese that feed in the lake's wetlands could be subject to the same accumulation found in the eared grebes, said Fish and Wildlife researcher Bruce Waddell.

People who eat the waterfowl might be exposed to mercury, agreed Steven Schwarzbach, a research manager for the USGS at the Western Ecological Research Center in Sacramento, Calif. The Great Salt Lake study hasn't yet tested that possibility, however.

"There are some mysteries out here that are just starting to be discovered, so it's not fair to make an assessment of what's happening," Waddell said.

Source: Associated Press

2/2/2005 SALTON SEA SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCEMENT, CALL FOR TITLES AND REGISTRATION
Contacts www.isslr.org/userhtm/Salton_Sea_2005_REG_FORM.pdf
A Salton Sea for the 21st Century: Science, Rehabilitation, and Management

A symposium to be held March 30 (8:30 am) - April 1 (12 noon), 2005 at the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley, 901 Camino Del Rio South, San Diego, CA 92108. Sponsored by the USGS Salton Sea Science Office, SDSU Center for Inland Waters, California Department of Water Resources, and the Water Education Foundation.

This will be a multidisciplinary, multi-format, 2-1/2 day symposium with presentations and discussion on all aspects of the Salton Sea and its future. Most presentations will be by scientists and engineers but will be designed to be of interest to a broad audience.

Since the second Salton Sea Symposium in 2000, there have been many new scientific discoveries about this lake many new ideas put forward on how to engineer its rehabilitation. The latest information on the dynamic ecology of the Salton Sea, its importance to people and wildlife, and its critical problems and their potential solutions will be presented.

Speakers will be allowed, indeed encouraged, to make a poster presentation as well as an oral one.
Presenters are requested to give close attention to two matters: 1) making their talks crystal clear to an audience of people with diverse specialties and interests, and 2) emphasizing, to the extent, possible the implications of their findings for understanding the future of the Salton Sea and for rehabilitation and management options. For scientists, this is your opportunity to directly address the relevance of your research findings to future management decisions.
To the extent that the program allows, speakers may make a presentation on more than one topic. In some cases these might have to be combined into a single oral presentation, but two or more manuscripts would still be acceptable from such presenters. Manuscripts will have to be submitted within 30 days after the symposium; instructions for them and for abstract submissions will be provided to authors in a couple of weeks.

Persons interested in making a presentation at the symposium should immediately send the title and authors to Jean Nordmann (jnordmann@watereducation.org) at the Water Education Foundation, for purposes of planning the program. These can be modified, if desired, at the time of abstract submission.

The scientific papers presented at the symposium will undergo peer review, revision, and be published as a hardcover volume in the Developments in Hydrobiology series published by Springer. Stuart Hurlbert (shurlbert@sunstroke.sdsu.edu) and Doug Barnum (doug_barnum@usgs.gov) will serve as editors. Questions concerning the scientific program, abstracts, and publication should be directed to them.

There also will be opportunties for exhibitors - vendors of commercial products, NGOs, government agencies - who might like to have a booth at the symposium. Cost of a booth for two days (March 30-31) will be $150 for NGOs and $500 for vendors, government agencies, and others. Sponsorships of various symposia events are available. Organizations or persons requiring additional information should contact the Water Education Foundation 916-444-6240.

We apologize for duplicate postings as we revise our mailing distribution list. Please feel free to distribute this message to any colleague,organization or interested party.

Register early for the best deal on hotel and registration costs. Registration form is attached. Hotel phone is 619-682-3947; special room rate for Symposium attendees is $119.

1/28/2005 Lake and Bake: Art Project at Owens Dry Salt Lake, USA
Contacts www.grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/19/maisel/#end
Visit above link for news story and link to photo project.

1/19/2005 Pilot project funded for selenium removal at Salton Sea
Contacts www.saltonsea.water.ca.gov
California Resources Agency awards $750,000 to the Salton Sea Authority for a pilot selenium removal project. The project is part of the Resources Agency's Salton Sea ecosystem restoration study.

"The state is strongly committed to restoring the Salton Sea ecosystem and the permanent protection of the fish and wildlife dependent on that ecosystem," said the Resources Agency Secretary, Chrisman. "Today's action to provide additional financial support for the Salton Sea Authority's selenium removal pilot testing is another important step to preserve this valuable resource for future generations."

The announcement was made during a meeting of the Resources Secretary's Salton Sea Advisory Committee. The Committee provides assistance and consultation to the Resources Agency, which is required by state law to prepare the Salton Sea ecosystem restoration plan by the end of 2006.

The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake in southeastern California. The state's largest lake, it spans across Riverside and Imperial counties. It is a terminal lake, meaning it has no outlets.

1/18/2005 Artemia Seminar - Ghent University, Belgium - September 5, 2005
Contacts allserv.UGent.be/aquaculture/artemia
At the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Artemia Reference Center (established in 1978 at Ghent University upon suggestion by FAO) a one-day Artemia Seminar will be organized on September 5, the day prior to the start of the larvi 2005 Symposium, at the same venue (www.UGent.be/larvi).

This day invited speakers will share with the audience contemporary insights into different aspects of Artemia biology, e.g. taxonomy and zoogeography, population genetics and evolutionary biology, physiology and biochemistry, sustainable exploitation and conservation.

For this Anniversary day, there will be no call for papers, nor will a poster session be organized. As the total number of participants will be restricted, advance registration is required. In view of the celebratory character of this day no registration fee is charged.

For more information, contact:
Gilbert Van Stappen
Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center,
Ghent University, Rozier 44, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
tel. 32-9-264 37 62 / 264 37 54
fax 32-9-264 41 93
artemia@UGent.be

 

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