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RESPONDENT
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Mikhail Soloviev
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SITE NAME
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Bludnaya River mouth, Taimyr, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (495)9394424 // mikhail-soloviev@yandex.ru // Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Wader Monitoring Project at Taimyr
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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8.06
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31.07
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4
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| After start of registration on 9 June temperature was following the steepest pattern of rise in comparison with all previous years of observations (1994-2000). Accordingly, until approximately 14 June temperature was yet lower than in 1995 and 1999 (two early and warm years), but a period from mid June to mid July was the hottest in 2001 in comparison with other years. In a period from 14 to 26 June no precipitation occurred, which in combination with hot weather resulted in unprecedental dryout of tundra and marshes. July was moderately wet, but habitats were still much dryer than normal. Dates of plant and insect development were the earliest in a series with the next closest 1997 and 1999 still delayed at a few days.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
4-5.06
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
12.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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A pair of Arctic Foxes inhabited den on the southern border of the main study plot with the floodplain, and produced pups by the end of June. On 29 July adult fox was seen carrying 4 lemmings at a time to 3 juvenile foxes, waiting near den, which is indicative of tolerable situation with food supply at this time. Among skuas, Pomorine did not breed, while Long-tailed and Arctic were successfully nesting in low, as usual, numbers. A nest of Rough-legged Buzzard with one egg was found on 14 July.
Warm spring resulted in practical absence of breeding Little Stints (0.8 nest/km2), while unusual drying of nesting habitats led to very low numbers of Red Phalaropes (4.0 nest/km2), and, probably, decreased density of Ruffs (7.1 nest/km2). Density of Pectoral Sandpipers (20.6 nest/km2), while higher than in other seasons of low numbers (1994, 1998, 2000), was still closer to their range of values (10.3-16.7 nest/km2) than to that of "good" seasons (27.0-47.6 nest/km2 in 1995-97, 1999). A decrease of Lapland Bunting numbers continued for the third year starting from 1998, and their density reached minimum of 10.3 nest/km2. As a result total bird density in 2001 decreased to minimum for a period of studies (74.6 nest/km2), with a previous minimal record of 94.4 nest/km2 in 1994.
Despite low lemming numbers fox pressure on tundra birds was low, and nest success of common waders on study plots was high to moderate: 69% in Dunlin (n=13), 61% in Pectoral Sandpiper (n=23), 56% in Ruff (n=9), 60% in Red Phalarope (n=5). Chicks hatched in all (n=13) controlled nests of Lapland Bunting, and fledged from most of them. Accordingly, breeding performance of birds was high for the third year in a row.
Nest of Skylark with 3 chicks was found on 7 July on the study plot on terrace, which is the northernmost breeding record for the species. Chicks left the nest on 9 July.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| After complete melting off snow, on 12 June, lemming winter nests were counted on a transect 4.6 km long and 10 m wide, located principally within flat-hillock marsh - the dominating habitat in the study area. On this transect 7 winter nests were recorded which is a pronounced decrease compared to 33 nests on the same part of transect in 2000. Only 22 lemmings (all - Siberian) were visually recorded in June-July 2001 by four observers, which exceeds only numbers in 1995 and 1998 (9 and 10, respectively), and represents an apparent depression in comparison with outbreak in 2000 (587 records) and growth stage in 1999 (94 records). After infrequent observation in June, no lemmings were seen between 8 and 20 July, but then few records of juveniles were made.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Lemmus sibiricus | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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