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RESPONDENT
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Dmitry Dobrynin
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SITE NAME
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Bolshoi Lyakhovski Island, Novosibirskie Islands, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| // ddobrynin@yandex.ru //
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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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6.07
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3.09
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11
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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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: |
high
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Breeding conditions:
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According to reports of mammoth tusk collectors the Foxtail Alopecurus sp. grass cover has been constantly increasing in watershed habitats on New Siberian Island archipelago during the recent 5-7 years. They have also reported a migration of lemmings in spring 2007 over the ice of the Dmitry Laptev strait, from the mainland area near Oyugossky Yar to the New Siberian Islands. Dense aggregations of migrating lemmings were followed by flocks of numerous gulls and skuas in May - early June.
Arctic Foxes were common and bred. Nests of Snowy Owls were frequently recorded in the period of our studies from 6 July to 3 September. Distance between nests usually ranged 0.5-2 km in landscapes with rugged relief. Fledging success of their chicks was high. The last recently fledged juveniles were recorded on 24 August in the mouth of the Chai-Povarnya River to the east of Svyatoy Nos Cape on the mainland. Several flocks of Snow Geese, of 20-80 birds were observed moving slowly eastward along the sea coast in the same area. There were also numerous feathers of moulting White-fronted and, probably, Bean geese.
A degree of the destruction of frozen banks in the course of permafrost melting was about average in 2007, while the development of solifluction on tundra slopes was high. The latter normally occurs once in 15-20 years, and represents an indication of a "warm" year.
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Rodent dynamics:
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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