An outcrop of fossiliferous Waterways Formation limestone on the west side of La Saline Natural Area.A salt spring on the tufa mound, with hoof-prints of animals that came to obtain minerals.
Saline Lake is the region's most productive lake for waterfowl, and birdwatching is the main recreational activity at La Saline Natural Area. Thousands of ducks, geese and other birds migrate along the Athabasca River to nesting sites on the Peace-Athabasca Delta, and Saline Lake is an important resting and feeding spot for them. Some, including American coots, mallards, American wigeons, buffleheads, and green-winged teal, nest on Saline Lake.[1] The lake is also important to migrating shore birds that feed on the Daphnia and other small invertebrates that are abundant in its saline waters during summer.[2]Mineral licks created by the salt springs attract moose, deer, and other animals to the lake.[1]
La Saline Natural Area lies within the Boreal Forest – Central Mixedwood Region of northeastern Alberta.[1] Rare hypersaline vegetation types are found on the tufa mound, and rare brackish and saline plant communities grow in the salt marshes along the lake shore.[2]
^Bachu, S.; Underschultz, J.R. (1993). "Hydrogeology of formation waters, northeastern Alberta Basin". Bulletin. 77. American Association of Petroleum Geologists: 1745–1768. OSTI5592498.
^ abBorneuf, D (1983). Springs of Alberta. Vol. 83–3. Alberta Research Council. 95 p. and 4 maps{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
