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RESPONDENT
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Nadezhda Boyko
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SITE NAME
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Kandalaksha Bay, northern archipelago, White Sea, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| // boyko27@com.mels.ru // Lineinaya St., 35, Kandalaksha, Murmanskaya oblast, 184040, 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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19.05
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
Snow depth reached 1-1.5 m on forested islands in winter, but only 0.1-0.2 m on woodless islands (ludas). The bay broke in mid May. Snow disappeared from the islands almost completely and sea was ice-free by 19 May, although small ice fragments could still be found on the coast. Air temperature ranged from +6-10øC in the second half of May, and precipitation occurred on 7 days from 13. Weather was similar to May in the first half of June, while the second half of June, July and August were warm and dry, which distinguished 2003 summer season from 2002. Air temperature often reached +28-30øC in summer months, precipitation occurred on 7 days in June, 6 days in July and 6 days in August. Air temperature dropped after 20 August, and the first night frost was recorded on 19-20 September. Snow cover established on 25-28 October.
Heavy crop of crowberries, bilberries and clusterberries was recorded.
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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: |
high
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Breeding conditions:
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Common waterbirds on islands and ludas of the bay include Common Eider, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Herring, Great Black-backed and Common gulls, Arctic Tern and Black Guillemot. Nesting of these species occurred at usual time in 2003. Several islands and ludas were inhabited by a non-breeding Red Fox in 2003, but abundance of voles relaxed its pressure on seabirds. Predation by White-tailed Sea Eagle had strong impact on gulls (mostly juvenile), while among eiders both juvenile and adult birds were taken, including incubating birds on nests. According to analysis of remains eagles took 96 eider females (2-16 per island) and 22 adult gulls (1-4 per island) by the end of June. Breeding success of Common Eiders, Oystercatchers and Common Gulls is strongly affected by predation of Herring and Great Black-backed gulls on chicks. Remains of eider eggs and chicks were found in 5.4% of droppings of Herring Gulls (n=110) collected on 21.06 and 5.07 on 6 ludas, while remains of voles in 3%. Despite predation pressure Common Eider, Oystercatcher, gulls, Arctic Tern and Black Guillemot successfully raised chicks on many islands. Numbers of nesting birds did not differ markedly from previous years.
Two clutches of Short-eared Owls were found on the islands, from which one was destroyed by Red Fox, while fate of another one is not known. Two pairs of Eurasian Kestrel on the islands successfully raised 3 chicks each. Mass appearance of the Thornback allowed start of recovery of Arctic Tern colonies.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Voles, primarily Microtus spp., were visually recorded in July-August on 58% of forested islands and on 24% of ludas. No voles were captured using snap-traps on Ryashkov Islamd in May, while in autumn density of voles there was 3.5 animals/100 trap-nights, mostly on behalf of the Bank Vole and some share of Short-tailed Vole. Given 2-year cycle on the island since 1994, this increase in vole numbers should be followed by the decrease in 2004.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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