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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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20.05
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
The head of the bay became free of ice by 8 May. Snow melted almost completely on islands by 20 May, although icefields were brought from the sea on this data, which were floating until 29 May. Ice completely melted on the coast by 31 May. Air temperatures ranged from +3-7øC in the morning and from +6-15øC at day time during the second half of May, and 7 of 16 days were with precipitation. Similar air temperatures prevailed until 20 June, but the following period until 10 August was very warm with air temperatures ranging from +20-27øC at daytime. Precipitation occurred on 11 days in June, 8 in July and 16 in August. As in 2003 air temperatures dropped after 20 August, and the first night frost was recorded on 17-18 September. Snow cover established from 26-28 October on the islands.
A heavy crop of bilberries Vaccinum myrtillus (rank 4-5), bog bilberries V. uliginosum (4-5), clusterberries V. vitis-idaea and crowberries Empetrum hermaphroditum (2-3) 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: |
average
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Breeding conditions:
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A pair of European Kestrels was a single breeding avian rodent specialist, which successfully raised chicks on Berezhnoi Vlasov Island (67ø05' N, 32ø42' E, pers. com. E.V. Shutova). Nesting of common seabirds occurred at usual dates. Islands of the Northern Archipelago were inhabited by two single Red Foxes and one pair with a brood of 3 young. Nests of common seabirds were destroyed by Red Foxes on these islands, due to relatively low abundance of voles. Clutches on some small ludas were also depredated by American Mink and Brown Bear.
White-tailed Sea Eagles captured 142 eider females (1-12 per island) by the moment of bird counts after 20 June. Remains of eider chicks and eggs were found in 6.1% of pellets of Herring Gulls. Despite predation pressure Common Edier, Oystercatcher, Great Black-backed, Herring and Common gulls, Arctic Tern and Black Guillemot successfully raised chicks on many islands. Numbers of breeding birds were in the normal range for the last 5 years.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Voles, Clethrionomys and Microtus spp., were seen in July-August on 53% of forested islands and on 31% of ludas. No voles were captured using snap-traps on Ryashkov Island in spring or autumn, while relative density based on catches with cylinders was 1.7 and 13.3 animals/10 days in July and August, respectively. For the second year in a row Wood Lemmings Myopus Schisticolor were migrating in mass on the Kola coast in the vicinity of Luvenga and Kolvitsa settlements in August-September. E.V. Shutova observed up to two hundred dead animals on roads in the forest and on lake shores. As in previous years Norwegian Lemming and Water Vole have not been recorded anywhere. Voles were found in 0.4% of in total 444 pellets of Herring Gulls collected on 19-28 June on 10 ludas, which is considerably lower portion than in 2003 (3%).
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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