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SITE NAME
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Fomich River middle reaches, Anabar plateau, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (499)780-16-53 // taimyr@orc.ru // Glavnaya St. 19A-193, Moscow, 105173, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Taimyr Reserve expedition
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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19.06
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20.08
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5
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Spring was late. On arrival at 19 June water table reached maximum, snowpatches were still present in the forest and snowcover reached 40-60% in the mountains to the north of the study area. Snow melted completely in the Fomich River valley on 22 June. Late spring was followed by very warm and clear period from 19-26 June, when air temperatures reached +26.2øC, after which cold and rainy weather with temperatures rarely exceeding +10øC prevailed until 11 July. Large lake near camp cleared from ice on 9 July. Mid July was hot (with record temperature value +32.5øC on 14 July) with frequent rains and storms.Warm weather with daily mean temperatures +12-16øC and almost daily rains established from 25 July. Precipitation amount from 6-9 August exceeded 30 mm which is approximately one third of the total amount for the period of observations. River waters rose by approximately 4-5 m, and were dropping to mean water until 18 August. Wind velocity exceeded 10 m/s only on 26 June, when 30 m/s value was reached. Generally summer was moderately warm and wet.
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| Season temperature: |
average
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
22.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Arctic Fox was seen once, and tracks were seen several times, but foxes apparently did not breed and were not resident in the area. We saw tracks of wolves several times and tracks of Brown Bear twice. Wolverine was seen once. Long-tailed Skuas were rare and presumably bred only in mountain tundra. Herring Gulls were rare, and a single brood was seen. Four nests of Rough-legged Buzzards were deserted (2 eggs in each of them), and a single successful nest was found in a canyon inhabited by Northern Pikas at a high density. Nesting of Gyrfalcons was successful, probably due to high abundance of Willow Grouse. Merlins also nested successfully.
Hatching was recorded on 30 June in Dusky Thrush and Pied Wagtail, on 1 July in Little Bunting, on 3 July in Ruff, on 5 July in Spotted Redshank, on 11 July in Arctic Tern, on 15 July in Ringed Plover, on 17 July in White-winged Scoter, on 18 July in Long-tailed Duck and on 20 July in Black-throated Diver. Redpolls were nesting in 3 waves: the last nest with yet not fledged chick was found on 8 July, then mass incubating occurred between 10-15 July, and finally the last nest with clutch was found on 5 August. Many nests from the third wave probably perished during flood in August when all willow stands were covered by water. Numbers of many birds (Long-tailed Duck, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit) dropped considerably from 10-20 August, but apparent migration was not observed.
Predation pressure was low due to low numbers of mammalian and avian predators, predation events were not recorded and chicks hatches in all nests under surveillance.
Bird fauna of the area includes 60 species, but many occur in very low numbers. Willow Warbler, Little Bunting and Dusky Thrush were common in the forests of river valleys. Dusky Thrushes were particularly abundant, their nests occurred every 200-300 m along some forested streams, and juveniles spread in all habitats except mountain tundra after fledging. European Golden Plover was common in sparse larch forest and on dry terraces. Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Common Snipe, Arctic Tern and Bar-tailed Godwit were common on marshes of the Fomich River valley. Among waterfowl Long-tailed Duck and White-winged Scoter were common, followed by Pintail. Pairs of Black-throated Divers occurred on almost every large lake. Geese were rare in the area and only Bean Goose nested. Willow stands of the Fomich River were inhabited by Redpoll, Pallas's Reed Bunting and Temminck's Stint. Ringed Plover was common in sandy tundra of river terraces, while presumably nesting Grey-rumped Tattlers were seen on gravel flats in small valleys. Rock Ptarmigan was common and bred in mountains, while Shorelark was rare breeder there. Pacific Golden Plover, Lapland Bunting, Dotterel, Snow Bunting, Pomarine Skua and Grey Plover were seen only in the mountains. Pied Wagtail and Wheatear were numerous on rocks of small river canyons and coastal cliffs of the Fomich River, respectively.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Lemmings were not seen or caught, but their remains were found in pellets, and lemming droppings were abundant in mountain tundra. 43 voles were captured per 1266 total trap/nights (data of M.P.Telesnin and M.N.Korolyova), including 33 Middendorff's and North Siberian voles, 7 Northern Red-backed and 3 Grey-sided voles. Northern Pika was numerous in stony tallus and in river canyons.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Clethrionomys rufocannus | rare |
| Clethrionomys rutilus | rare |
| Microtus middendorffi | rare |
| Ochotona hyperborea | common |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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