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SITE NAME
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Velt River, Malozemelskaya tundra, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (8212)431007(off)/43-81-21(hom)/(8212)240163(fax) // mineev@ib.komisc.ru // Oktyabr'ski prospect 146-9, Syktyvkar, 167031 Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Tundra zoological team
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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5.06
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20.08
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5
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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Weather conditions: |
| Weather was warm and sunny from 1-10 June. Snow melted on plain surface by 31 May - 2 June, and in valleys - by 10 June. Summer was cold with frequent strong winds and rain on average twice a week. Flowering of cloudberries was delayed at two weeks and their berries appeared in small numbers only in the middle of August. Most of the days were cloudy. Average air temperature was +3-5øC. Frosts on soil were recorded. In August fog, wind and rain alternated with sunny weather.
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Reproduction of Arctic Foxes was poor due to absence of lemmings. Most of inspected dens were uninhabited, and only 2 and 3 pubs were present in two dens controlled in August. Wolves were abundant. Rough-legged Buzzards nested in river floodplains or on wet hill slopes, covered by dwarf birch. Geese and Whooper Swans had complete clutches of 4-6 eggs. Among ducks only Pintail was, probably, successful, while broods of diving ducks were rarely seen. Broods of Red-breasted Merganser were numerous in lower reaches of the Velvit River and its tributories.
Herring Gulls nested, but many clutches died, and brood cannibalism was widespread. Nesting of Glaucous Gulls was more successful, but their chicks hatched 1-2 weeks later than in Herring Gulls. Some Arctic Terns were still incubating from 1-5 August, although juveniles of most birds already fledged by this time.
Reproductive success of waders can be evaluated as below average. Cold weather could have affected to some degree reproductive success of passerines and certain species of waders
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Rodent dynamics:
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Microtus oeconomus | common |
| Microtus gregalis | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
| Information on reproduction is fragmentary due to the way field studies were organizied (downstream trip on boat with short-termed stops).
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