Westminster University announced today that its Great Salt Lake Institute has received a $150,000 grant from Northrop Grumman to continue vital research on Great Salt Lake’s brine flies, a critical piece of the lake’s ecosystem.
This funding will support the next 2 years of Great Salt Lake Institute’s ongoing initiative to monitor brine fly populations, which serve as a major food source for 7-10 million migratory birds annually. Research at other saline lakes suggests that increased salinity may impact brine flies by reducing their body mass and overall population. As salinity levels increase as Great Salt Lake’s overall water level goes down, amid ongoing low lake levels, research into how brine fly populations may be reduced at high salinity comes at a pivotal moment.
"This additional funding is allowing us to expand our monitoring project beyond just salinity's impact on the fly population,” said Georgie Corkery, Great Salt Lake Institute Coordinator. “We are taking a more holistic view with a broad set of environmental factors."
The expansion of this project will incorporate a more holistic view of the brine fly food chain, including identifying the composition of microbialites—complex structures built by microbial communities—which brine flies rely on during pupation and as a food source. Researchers will also use acoustic recording units to identify bird species.
Previous funding from Northrop Grumman allowed researchers and students at the Great Salt Lake Institute to refine brine fly monitoring methods in collaboration with the Mono Lake Committee in California.
The Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster University was established in 2008 to connect people to Great Salt Lake through research and education. Additional student projects underway at Great Salt Lake include research on microbe resiliency, soil microbiomes, and Pickleweed bioaccumulation.
