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RESPONDENT
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Joseph Liebezeit
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SITE NAME
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Prudhoe Bay 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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1.06
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25.07
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2
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
The Kuparuk River broke on 2 June. Upon arrival on 2 June, snow cover in the flat areas was about 80%. On some of the study plots snow depth was >0.5 m. It appeared that the study plots closest to the Beaufort Sea had the deepest snow and highest snow cover. At this site, our study plots range 2-13 km inland from the coastline. The second week of June was particularly cold (near or just below 0øC). July was warmer than June with only one major rainstorm on 3 July.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
5.06
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
2.06
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
19.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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We discovered and monitored all nests on 12 10-hectare study plots every 3-6 days until nesting fate was determined. We discovered 132 nests of 21 species from 7 June to 15 July. Overall nest density was 68.3 nests/km2 at this site. Of the 132 nests, 49 were discovered off-plot. Sixty-four nests successfully hatched, 54 failed, and we were unable to reliably assess the fate of 14 nests. Most nests failed due to predation (49 of 54 nests, 91%). Other causes of nest failure included: weather (n=1), human-induced (n=1), infertile eggs (n=1), and for unknown reasons (n=2). Mayfield estimates of nesting success for the three most common species were: Lapland Bunting (n=15): 0.509, Pectoral Sandpiper (n=13): 0.539, and Semipalmated Sandpiper (n=19): 0.569.
We conducted three 10-minute point count surveys for potential nest predators on all plots. We conducted a total of 3 replicates of this survey on all plots during the course of the season. A total of 6 potential predators were detected (number of detections in brackets): Common Raven (n=3), Arctic Fox (n=3), Arctic Skua (n=18), and Long-tailed Skua (n=5), Glaucous Gull (n>50). The most common potential predators were Glaucous Gull, Arctic and Long-tailed Skuas.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| 2 observers over 2 months in the field only observed lemmings a few 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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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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