Incidents, Accidents and Ecology—how use and management issues on the Great Salt Lake help us understand how this “simple” system works.

While the Great Salt Lake has a reputation for great sunsets, water you can float in, and occasionally, lake stink, it is seldom thought of as “complicated.” In fact, introductory ecology classes often present the Great Salt Lake as an example of a “simple” ecosystem: algae, brine flies, brine shrimp, birds, and that’s about it. However, while the lake’s food web is relatively simple, it is balanced, sometimes precariously, on a series of complicated and sometimes wonderful processes and relationships. At the same time, the Great Salt Lake is probably one of the largest and most valuable (and valued) natural resource “assets” in the state of Utah, with uses ranging from intensive resource extraction to photographic backdrop, and everything in-between. Over the course of time, a number of “incidents and accidents” have led to change, or the potential for change to the lake’s ecosystems. Because the Great Salt Lake’s many stakeholders realize that much of the value of the lake is derived from how it functions, studies undertaken to respond to these incidents have resulted in an increased understanding of the simply complicated ecology of the lake. This presentation will discuss some of the intriguing aspects of the Great Salt Lake’s ecology that have been learned while trying to understand how several incidents have impacted the lake’s systems, and how these lessons can help us to understand and manage the lake in the future.