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SITE NAME
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Canning River Delta, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (907) 456-0303/(907) 456-0428(fax) // Steve_Kendall@fws.gov // U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 101 12th Ave., Room 236, Fairbanks, AK 99708, USA
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Avian Influenza Screening Sample Collection
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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18.06
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14.07
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4
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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Weather conditions: |
| This was our 6th year at the study site. There was a weather system that produced steady northeast winds, cool temperatures and fog for most of the study period. We arrived at the study on 18 June 2007, later in the season than previous years, so the timing of snow melt was unknown. It seems that in general the season was average in timing and rather cold.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
<18.06
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
<18.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Arctic Foxes were common, but not as abundant as the previous year and they did not appear to be breeding near the study site. There were no Snowy Owls and few Pomarine Skuas present (these species bred at the site in 2006). Arctic Skuas and Glaucous Gulls were common, Long-tailed Skuas rather abundant. The Rough-legged Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Herring Gull, Raven and Sandhill Crane, were all rarely seen and there were no signs of breeding.
Nest survival data collected in 2007 were from nests where birds were captured. In the previous years these data were collected only from nests found using standardized search methods and monitoring methods and none of the nesting birds were captured. Thus direct comparison to previous years is not possible.
At the Canning River Delta in 2007 we located and captured birds on 84 nests of 6 shorebird species. Mayfield (1975) estimate of nest success was 0 in the American Golden Plover (n=1), 2% in Ruddy Turnstone (n=4), 26.8% in Semipalmated Sandpiper (n=23), 2.4% in Pectoral Sandpiper (n=22), 0 in Dunlin (n=11) and Buff-breasted Sandpiper (n=2). Thus nest success on the sampled nests was low for all species in 2007.
Rock Ptarmigans were rare and breeding was not confirmed.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| In 2006, lemming and predator abundance were higher at the Canning River Delta than previously observed. In 2007, the lemming populations had crashed and predator activity was lower. We observed only one Greenland Lemming during the entire season that lasted until 14 July.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Dicrostonyx groenlandicus | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
| From 2002 to 2006, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Arctic NWR) worked with several partners to investigate the relationship between nest survival of tundra-nesting birds and predator populations on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain. As part of this collaboration, field studies were conducted at the Canning River Delta on the Arctic NWR from 2002 to 2006. We returned to the field site in 2007 to collect samples, to screen for the presence of avian influenza from breeding shorebirds, and to capture, band and radio tag birds for studies on post-breeding shorebird ecology. Although not part of our objectives in 2007, we did collect data on shorebird nest survival from nests where birds were captured.
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