Report : setinfo

RESPONDENT
A. Koshelev

SITE NAME
Sibiryakova Island, southern coast, Russia

Contact details (phone/fax//e-mail//address):
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PROJECT DETAILS

Project name:

Start of survey:	End of survey:	Team size:

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Season phenology:

late

Weather conditions:

Spring was very late and prolonged. On 20 June, the tundra remained covered in deep snow, except for the tops of higher hills. On Sibiryakov Island there was rapid melting of snow between 3-5 July, i.e. 2-3 weeks later than usual. The coastal sandflat was free of ice on 25 July. During the summer only two warm days (with mosquitos) were noticed. The first snow was on 1 August.

Season temperature:

cold

Season humidity:

Date of 50% snow-cover:

Date of ice-break on rivers:

Date of final loss of snow:

BIOTIC CONDITIONS

Rodents abundance evaluation:

low

Breeding conditions:

There were low numbers of lemmings and Arctic Fox. The breeding season was extremely unsuccessful for geese, gulls and waders. Snowy Owls, skuas, eiders and Long-tailed Ducks did not breed at all. The nest density of Grey Plover, Turnstone and Little Stint was very high, and the density of Dunlin nests was normal, but nest losses were as high as 90-95% because of predator activity. At the end of July/beginning of August waders practically disappeared, and only rarely were single broods of Dunlin and Little Stint seen.

Rodent dynamics:

Rodent species recorded:

Latin	Abundance

Summary of fauna studies:

Group of species	Presence	Abundance	Breeding
arctic foxes	Yes	rare
lemmings	Yes	rare
waders	Yes
geese	Yes
ducks	Yes
skuas	Yes		no
gulls/terns	Yes
owls	Yes		no