Pollutants entering a lake with no outlet from industry, agriculture and a growing human population may be accumulating to possibly toxic levels for wildlife. There is a lack of scientific information about many aspects of the lake's ecology. More scientific study is needed so informed decisions concerning the lake's future can be made. This lifelessness is but an illusion. When intermittently or seasonally flooded, activity explodes and the playa blooms.
Invertebrates feed on rapidly growing, salt-tolerant algae.
These shallow, ephemeral, salt-water habitats become magnets attracting breeding and migrating birds. When the play dries, life goes dormant again and waits for water. It is a pioneer, often the first to invade barren salt flats. The green, succulent leaves appear as water-filled stems. Lacking kidneys to excrete excess salt, Pickleweed stores salt in mini-swimming pools or microscopic water interspaces found in the leaf cells.