Soda Springs

HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA

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Located on the western edge of Soda Lake, the artificial Lake Tuendae harbors the only natural-occurring pure strain of the endangered Mojave chub, Gila mohavensis. Originally found in the Mojave River from near the confluence of the east and west forks to Soda Lake, the fish has hybridized with the illegally introduced Gila orcutti elsewhere in the drainage. Populations of the fish have been successfully introduced in other ponds in Southern California. The introduced Saratoga Springs pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis nevadensis, has completely replaced a pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus, which was introduced earlier.

Aside from the fish, animal life is relatively sparse though the area is frequented by migrating birds, including the Canada goose, Branta canadensis.

There is a freshwater marsh along the lake and river shoreline which includes cattail, Typha sp., bulrush, Scirpus sp., and yerba mansa, Anemopsis californica. Interspersed in the marsh area are plots of salt grass, Distichlis spicata.

On the higher ground a scrub occurs with mesquite, Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana, the dominant species.

Soda Lake, now a wet playa, is a remnant of the late Pleistocene Lake Mojave. The Mojave River flowed through it and on to Death Valley. A number of pools are present near the artificial lake.

Integrity: The lake is artificial and there are numerous building and access roads on the property. However, most of the marsh area is undisturbed, as is the adjacent playa.

Use: Research, educational, observational.

Ref: Jubbs, C. L. and R. R. Miller, 1943. Mass Hybridization between Two Genera of Cyprinidid Fishes in the Mojave Desert, California. Pap. Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts Let. Vol. 28, pp. 343-378

St. Amant, J. A. and S. Sasaki, 1971. Progress Report on Reestablishment of the Mojave Chub, Gila Mohavensis, Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game Vol. 57, pp. 307-308.

Blackwelder, Eliot, 1954. Pleistocene Lakes and Drainage in the Mojave Region, Southern California. In Geology of Southern California, Calif. Div. of Mines Bull. 170.

Send mail to naturebase@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: December 06, 2005

Send mail to naturebase@aol.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: December 06, 2005