RENO — The Lake Tahoe ecosystem has undergone dramatic changes in the last 50 years. Whether it is documenting a significant decline in native species at the lake bottom, determining how to manage invasive pests or guiding the recovery of the lake’s fragile clarity, scientists play a critical role in providing information to managers to guide the recovery of the lake. It’s the interconnected, cross-disciplinary studies such as those conducted by the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and the University of Nevada, Reno that help agencies in their efforts to preserve Lake Tahoe.

This year’s Tahoe Summit report from the University and DRI about research activities at Lake Tahoe profiles many talented researchers who have invested their careers in preserving Lake Tahoe, with details about their diverse topics of study.

To better manage the environment at Lake Tahoe, a number of research projects are underway and milestones have been reached to better help public agencies in their mission to protect and preserve the jewel of the Sierra. Below are DRI and UNR’s top 10 findings are results: 

1. Debunked the theory that invasive quagga mussels can’t live in Lake Tahoe, actively working with agencies to develop a Blue Boater program to protect the lake from harmful critters that could destroy the efforts to protect the lake’s clarity and fisheries.

2. Scaled-up management research project laying out mats on the lake bottom to control the invasive Asian Clam, an invertebrate that contributes to algal blooms on the lake’s southeastern shores and developed mitigation plan for invasive large-mouth bass, a warm-water fish that would change the lake’s biodiversity and reduce the lake’s near-shore clarity.

3. Developed protocols for monitoring, reporting and evaluating the performance of storm-water management and erosion-control projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

4. Assisted fire managers to optimize controlled burn practices by balancing environmental impacts with economic growth and recreation.

5. Identified the sources and amounts of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus that lead to algal growth) and fine sediment that enter the Lake, monitored effects of sediment loading following Angora Fire.

6. Created more efficient monitoring programs to save money for agencies, by developing a new buoy-based monitoring system to study impacts in near-shore habitats.

7. Installed real-time monitoring devices to get accurate measurements of air quality and emissions, including assessing the impact of best management practices (BMPs) designed to reduce the loading contributions from road dust re-suspended by vehicles.

8. Completed underwater mapping of the West Tahoe Fault through Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake, showing potential of dramatic changes to Tahoe sediment loading by single-event seismic occurrences.

9. Created an informational poster, Preserving Tahoe, and working with K-12 programs to help incorporate Tahoe issues and research and environmental principles into the classroom.

10. Developed a Lake Tahoe Basin Integrated Science Plan through the Tahoe Science Consortium to guide restoration efforts.

An electronic copy of “Tahoe, A Legacy of Research, Education & Outreach” is available by visiting http://newsroom.unr.edu. Hard copies of the report and the new Tahoe Poster will be available at the Tahoe Summit.

The Tahoe Summit, hosted this year by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, is at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in the amphitheater at Sand Harbor in the Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park, located three miles south of Incline Village on State Route 28.