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RESPONDENT
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Pavel Tomkovich
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SITE NAME
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Khatanga settlement, Taimyr Peninsula, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (495)6294474/(495)629-48-25(fax, for P. Tomkovich) // pst@zmmu.msu.ru // Zoological Museum, Bolshaya Nikitskaya St., 6, Moscow, 125009, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Wader Monitoring Project on Taimyr
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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27.05
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15.06
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4
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Spring was early, probably, due to low accumulation of snow during the winter. Day-time temperatures were above freezing point in late May, and snow cover reduced to 50% in forest tundra around the settlement on 3 June and on low watersheds farther from the settlement on 7 June. Snowfalls occurred on 3 days in the first half of June, but weather was generally warm and alterating in this period. The last drop of temperature below freezing occurred on 7 June. Flowering of Glacier avens, appearance of bumble-bees and butterflies were recorded on 9 June. Ice started to break on the Khatanga River on 9 June and water table started to increase, however, ice jams prevented ice from moving until 14 June. Water level reached maximum on the Khatanga River on 15 June, while water level in small tributaries started to decrease on 13 June. Sedges Carex sp. and willows (Salix pulchra) flowered, and buds opened in larch Larix daurica on 14 June.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
3-7.06
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
14.06
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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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Predators were rare. White-tailed Sea Eagle, Northern Harrier, Merlin and Short-eared Owl wandered in the area, while Rough-legged Buzzards bred, and at least one chicks fledged from the nest with a clutch of 4 eggs. Remains of a rodent and wader feathers were found in the buzzard nest on 11 August. Crows Corvus corone and C. cornix and, probably, Ravens nested in the settlement vicinity.
Density of waterfowl was low due to hunting pressure and disturbance in spring. Numbers of Willow Grouse also reduced after opening of hunting. Results of reproduction of passerines and waders were not low judging by commonness of juveniles on 11 August.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| We did not see rodents on daily excursions from 27 May-15 June and on 11 August, which indicates their low numbers. Undersnow tracks were seen rarely, droppings found at one place, and remains of lemming taken by predator at another. Muskrats were common in waterbodies on the settlement boundary, and Arctic Hare was seen.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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