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RESPONDENT
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Mikhail Golovatin
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SITE NAME
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Ob' River lower reaches, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (34992)5-69-10(off.)/5-71-85(fax) // golovatin@ipae.uran.ru // Inst. of Plant and Animal Ecology, 8 Marta St, 202, Ekaterinburg, 620144, 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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8.06
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27.06
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2
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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Weather conditions: |
| Ice was soft and water appeared near shore on the Ob River by mid May, however, the ice-break was delayed until 25 May due to low water level. The river quickly cleared from ice, water level was not high during flood and meadow ridges were covered by water for a short time. Spring was average in timing, summer warm and rainy.
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
25.05
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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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An unusually high number of White-fronted Geese had migration stop-over in the Ob River floodplain in spring, and observations of their flocks of up to 700-1000 birds were not rare. Short-eared Owls were common breeders. Total numbers of waterfowl decreased considerably compared with 2005 on behalf of the dominant species, Pintail, European Wigeon and Tufted Duck, however, abundance of Mallard and, particularly, Garganey increased. Numbers of Black-headed Gulls decreased by a factor of almost 5 in 2006, and approximately 75% of birds bred, in small groups of 3-10 nests. A portion of gulls, probably, moved downstream of the Ob River, as the size of colonies in the vicinity of the Labytnangy settlement increased considerably. Abundance of Little Gulls did not change notably, although the portion of breeding birds dropped in the inner parts of the floodplain and accounted for about 9% of the population only. Little Gulls moved to the vicinity of channels, where the portion of breeding birds was 36%, and they established medium to large in size colonies (25-90 nests) on flooded shores of channels.
Among waders abundance of Wood Sandpiper and Common Snipe decreased, while Terek Sandpiper, in contrast, occurred in higher numbers. Sedge Warbler was a single species among passerines which numbers continued to decrease. Abundance of Willow Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Chiffchaff and Brambling increased, while numbers of other species did not change notably.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Voles occurred in average numbers.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Arvicola terrestris | rare |
| Microtus sp. | common |
| Clethrionomys sp. | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
| Absolute counts of birds were carried out on a plot, and their distribution was evaluated. Descriptions of found nests and bird behaviour were made. Waterbird census was carried out from boat.
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