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RESPONDENT
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Gerard Muskens
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SITE NAME
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Cape Vostochny, Piasina delta, Taimyr, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| + 31 317 486570/+ 31 317 424988(fax) // gerard.muskens@wur.nl // Alterra, P.O. Box 47, NL-6700 AA WAGENINGEN, the Netherlands
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Alterra-Heritage Institute, Pyasina Delta 2007 Expedition
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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26.06
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21.07
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6
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Even after Taimyr standards the weather during our stay was full of extremes. When we arrived on 26 June the snow on the tundra had disappeared. The ice in Lidia Bay broke relatively early on 29 June. In the first week of July the weather was dry and mild with average 24 hours air temperatures between +10° and +18°C. On four days maximum air temperatures rose above +20°C. On 7 July a cold spell arrived with a little rain and snow, and the ice moved into the river from the sea. This rather bad period lasted until 17 July.
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
29.06
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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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At least 292 pairs of Brent geese, 11 Red-breasted Geese and 10 King Eiders were breeding on Bird Islands, including Bakennye Islands. On Bakennye Islands we found 47 nests of Red-throated Divers. On Verkhny Island there were 267 nests of Brents. On Farwaternye Islands we found three breeding pairs of Brent Geese, 61 breeding pairs of White-fronted Geese and two nests of the Arctic Skua. In the 5 km2 census plot on Vostochny Cape there were six breeding pairs of White-fronted Geese and no Brent Geese.
Nest success was estimated according to the Mayfield method. The daily nest survival of all waders on Vostochny Cape, including the nests outside of the 5 km2 plot, was 0.985 (SD=0.04). Assuming an average incubation period of 21 days this means a hatching probability of 72%. The Mayfield daily nest survival of White-fronted Geese on Vostochny Cape and Farwaternye was 0.995 (SD=0.04). Assuming an average breeding period of 28 days this means a hatching probability of 86%.
We counted 1753 nests of (Taimyr) Herring Gull and 20 nest of Glaucous Gull on Bird Islands, including Bakennye Islands.
Not a single Rough-legged Buzzard was seen, and only one Snowy Owl recorded. They did not breed. However, one pair of the Pomarine Skua bred.
Within the 5 km2 wader census plot on Vostochny Cape no Arctic Foxes were seen. The nearest fox burrow with young was along the Spokoinaya River at a distance of about 10 km from Vostochny Cape. Around the Wysokaya hill, near our wader study plot, most fox burrows were used, but there was no permanent occupancy by foxes. There were no foxes on Farwaternye Islands. Daily nest survival rates of wader (0.985) and geese nests (0.995) were high, probably because of the low number of Arctic Foxes.
During a cold spell between 7 and 17 July many chicks of various birds must have died. We found some dead young in nests.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| As expected, there were moderate numbers of Siberian Lemmings, after the lemming population crash of 2006. The relative abundance of Siberian Lemmings was approximately 1.7 animals per 100 trap-nights. One Collared Lemming was captured, while in 2004-2006 they were not recorded.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Lemmus sibiricus | common |
| Dicrostonyx torquatus | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
| Lemming capture data were collected by Igor Popov (Severtsov Institute, Moscow).
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