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SITE NAME
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Point Thomson, Alaska, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (907) 644-2706/(907) 562-7223(f) // brodrigues@lgl.com // LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc. 1101 E. 76th Ave Suite B Anchorage, AK 99518, USA
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Point Thomson
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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7.06
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14.07
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Early season with most of snow gone by our arrival. One snow storm accompanied by strong winds, sleet, etc. occurred during field season with accumulation of a few cm that disappeared by mid-day.
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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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Natal Arctic Fox den was found in northwest portion of study area, and second fox den (natal ?) in eastern portion of study area. Arctic fox signs at many depredated nests in 2002. Pomarine Skua was abundant during first half of season in 2001 but much less common in 2002, while Arctic Skua was common during both years, and one Arctic Skua nest found off plot in 2002.
Study was conducted for 2 years (2001, 2002) but methodologies differed between years, with more intensive effort during second year. Nest densities similar for both years although search effort much reduced during first year and densities not really comparable. Nest density on 24 10-ha study plots was 59.2 nests/km2. Most common nesting species were Lapland Bunting (23.3 nests/km2), Semipalmated Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper (10.8 nests/km2), and Grey Phalarope (5.4 nests/km2). Nest success relatively low: Lapland Bunting=24%, Semipalmated Sandpiper=31%, Pectoral Sandpiper=36%, Grey Phalarope=59% (although sample size for Grey Phalarope was low - 13 nests).
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Rodent dynamics:
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| We occasionally saw a lemming here and there. Lemmings were likely more common that they appeared to be from our casual observations. We did not try to trap any lemmings. We saw many more lemmings in 2001 than in 2002 and Pomarine Skuas were also more common in 2001.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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