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SITE NAME
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Meynypilgynskaya lake-river system, Chukotski Peninsula, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (42722)26647(o), 28806(h)/(42722)26761(fax) // goland87@yandex.ru; elena_golub@mail.ru // Otke 40-15, Anadyr, Chuckotski okrug, 689000, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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27.06
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9.09
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2
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Small amount of precipitation in 2002 did not result in drought in the study area, which is situated at a narrow shore belt, separated from the rest of Chukotski Peninsula by Koryakski and Meinypylginski ridges, and has seaside monsoon climate. This area is characterized by high relative humidity, high fraction of cloudy days, frequent fogs and drizzle in summer. Weather conditions in 2002 did not differ from average and were relatively cool in contrast with adjacent areas exposed to drought and fires in August. Insufficient moistening in the area could only be noted on meadows with low and sparse grasses. After snow melted in the mountains in August water level in the rivers dropped considerably below normal.
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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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Unlike two previous years, channels connecting lakes Vaamochka and Pekulneiskoe with the sea were blocked after storms in autumn 2001. The channels were cleared by local people only on 21 June 2002 which is approximately 1 week later than normal. Intensive snow melt and absence of drainage resulted in the highest rise of water in the lakes for the last 8 years. Water table exceeded August level at 2.6 m, and nesting habitats in river deltas, low shores, islands and spits of lakes were flooded until the beginning of July. This resulted in delay of nesting by some of birds at 8-10 days and cancellation of breeding by a fraction of geese. Clutches of Common Eider on low parts of spits contained 1-3 eggs during first week of July, while birds at elevated areas had 4-6 eggs. Eider pairs were still recorded until 20 July, while in previous year most males departed before 10 July. A pair of Red-throated Divers, which has bred annually on a lake island, started nesting only on 7 July.
Geese numbers increased considerably after fledging in the second half of August in Meynypilgynskaya system compared with previous years. Birds presumably migrated to the system from regions with adverse conditions. Birds consumed almost completely heavy crop of bog bilberry, cloudberry and crowberry, feeding even in normally avoided localities with poor visibility.
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Rodent dynamics:
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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