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RESPONDENT
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Joseph Liebezeit
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SITE NAME
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Kuparuk Oilfield, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| 503-241-7231/503-241-7925(fax) // jliebezeit@wcs.org // Wildlife Conservation Society, North America Program - Pacific West office, 718 SW Alder Street, Suite 210, Portland, OR 97205, USA
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Nest survival of tundra-nesting birds and human development on the North Slope of Alaska
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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31.05
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24.07
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4
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| I think the Kuparuk River broke during the last week of May or first couple days of June. Upon arrival on 31 May, most snow (~90%) in the flat areas was melted. June was more overcast and rainy than normal. July was sunnier than June. We experienced one major storm (on July 2-3). The storm resulted in minor snow accumulation (< 5 cm) that melted within 1.5 days. We experienced high winds during the storm (~50 km/h).
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
15-20 May
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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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We discovered and monitored all nests on study plots every 3-6 days until nesting fate was determined. We discovered 231 nests of 18 species from 7 June to 22 July. Of the 231nests, 70 were discovered off-plot. One hundred ten nests successfully hatched, 86 failed, and we were unable to reliably assess the fate of 35 nests. Most nests failed due to predation (72 of 86 nests, 84%). Other causes of nest failure included: weather (n=4), caribou trampling (n=4), human-induced (n=4), and infertile eggs (n=2). Mayfield estimates of nesting success for the three most common species were: Lapland Longspur (n=65): 0.382, Pectoral Sandpiper (n=44): 0.587, and Semipalmated Sandpiper (n=39): 0.647.
We conducted three 10-minute point count surveys for potential nest predators on all plots. We conducted a total of 4 replicates of this survey on all plots during the course of the season. A total of 8 potential predators were detected (n=#of detections): arctic ground squirrel (n=1), Snowy Owl (n=1), Common Raven (n=4), Arctic fox (n=5), Pomerine Jaeger (n=1), Parasitic Jaeger (n=74), and Long-tailed Jaeger (n=61), Glaucous Gull (n>100). The most common potential predators were Glaucous Gull, Parasitic and Long-tailed Jaegers.
Nesting success for the three most common species appeared to be higher than the average (based on the results of previous studies carried out in this area).
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Rodent dynamics:
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| All 4 observers over 2 months in the field only observed lemmings 3 times. No trend in lemming abundance was apparent during the course of the season. We did not capture lemmings.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Dicrostonyx groenlandicus | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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