Mono Lake has few species, and the food web is relatively simple compared to most ecosystems. The diagram shows the food web staring with the primary producers at the bottom. The Plaktonic Algae grows suspended in the lake waters. The Benthic Algae grows attached to the lake bottom. The algae provide the food for the brine shrimp and the brine flies, the two major herbivores. The brine flies require submerged hard-rock or tufa surfaces for reproduction and shallow waters for feeding. The brine shrimp inhabit the open waters of the lake. The shrimp and flies provide most of the food for the large numbers of birds that use the lake. The "model merger" exercise focuses on the brine shrimp. They provide the food for three bird species: California Gulls: About 40 to 50 thousand breeding adults use the lake as a nesting area. They nest on the irregular terrain and on the islands, and they feed on the shrimp at the surface of the lake. Eared Grebes: Around 750 thousand use Mono Lake as a migratory stopover for molting and fattening. They feed on both shrimp and flies, and they feed below the surface as well as at the surface. Wilson's Phalaropes: An estimated 80 thousand use Mono Lake as a migratory stopover for molting and fattening. They feed on shrimp and flies at the surface.

The Mono Lake Food Web source:The Future of Mono Lake (Botkin, et al 1988)