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RESPONDENT
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Benoit Sittler
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SITE NAME
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Traill Island, Karupelv Valley, Greenland, Denmark
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (49-761)2033629/(49-761)2033638 // sittler@ruf.uni-freiburg.de // Institut fur Landespflege Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg D-79085 Freiburg, Germany
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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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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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Weather conditions: |
| Observations made as part of the ongoing monitoring of the Greenland Lemming population on Traill Island have shown that snow melt was nearly completed by the end of June in 2006. This timing may be considered as being close to the average of a long-term trend assessed over two decades and pointing to a tendency towards an earlier disappearance of snow in spring. In addition, observations of the fjord ice suggested an accelerated break up and melting, in line with the trend becoming apparent in recent years.
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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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Patterns observed for other predators meshed together nicely with this availability of lemmings as staple prey. As also suggested by the long term observations in Karupelv Valley, such level of less than 800 winter nests is below the threshold required for Snowy Owls to settle in the valley for breeding. Among Long-tailed Skuas, six pairs were defending nests in early July but only eggs in one nest hatched, and not a single young fledged. Only two Arctic Fox dens out of eight that were checked had cubs but probably only one whelp survived until the end of the season.
Observations of several pairs of Rock Ptarmigans are notable as they suggested a recovery of their population.
For waders patterns were in general line with earlier observations, including limited numbers of fledged young. As recorded in previous years, the repeated observation of 3 Whimbrels could indicate northward expansion of this species range. A special attention will be paid to checking for possible breeding of Whimbrels in coming years.
Fauna surveys conducted in the surrounding area (Vega Sund and Kong Oscar Fjord) have shown that patterns observed in the main study area were also prevailing on a regional basis (region comprised between 72øN to 73ø N).
For the first time, Long-tailed Skuas were fitted with satellite transmitters. The migration pattern of two birds could have been tracked for two months from their departure from NE Greenland until their arrival to the Tropics in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of West Africa. Unfortunately, the transmitters stopped working by the end of September for unknown reasons.
New challenges within this long term project will include assessment of the reaction of this high arctic animal community to the changes in environmental conditions that become apparent (trend towards an early snow melt, earlier receding of pack ice).
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Rodent dynamics:
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The survey of the lemming population determined on the basis of the winter nest surveys pointed to a noticeable recovery (762 nests against only 211 in 2005) as a result of winter reproduction. This figure also matched well with the output of the first trapping session (5 animals caught), suggesting density levels of around one lemming per one hectare, which can be regarded as an intermediate situation.
Evidence was of a good reproductive output in winter nests (nearly 40% of the nests were supporting litters) also with some great aggregations typical for increase phases. With only four winter nests used by stoats as winter quarters, there was evidence that predation throughout winter must have been quite limited.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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