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RESPONDENT
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Alexander Artyukhov
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SITE NAME
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Boganida River mouth, Taimyr Peninsula, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| 8(083)4124632 // // Sovetskaya St., 3-60, Kokino, Bryanskaya oblast, 243365, 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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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| The climatic conditions in the northern forest-tundra (500 km stretch of the Kheta river between Putorana Mountains and the mouth, lower Boganida river and the area between the Kheta, Dudypta and Boganida rivers) were rather unusual. The snow accumulation was 3-6 times less than usual which together with extremely high temperatures in April and May (+10-15^ C) created the situation of an atypically early spring. Most of the snow cover in the region disappeared by 15 - 20 May and newly fallen snow (10 - 20 cm) did not stay long. Before 20 June the temperature dropped below zero (-1-4^C) only a few times. The ice movement on the Kheta river near Volochanka started on 19-20 May. Ice on small lakes melted in May, on larger ones - by 22-25 June. The spring water level increase in rivers was insignificant. Larches along the middle Kheta flow started turning green on 22-23 June. Most spring phenology events were 15-30 days earlier than in average years. The summer and autumn were generally dry and warm.
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
19.05
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
late May
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
average
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Breeding conditions:
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For the first time in many decades many tens of thousands of reindeers overwintered in the area (staying up to 10-15 June), seriously disrupting the vegetation cover over large spans of tundra. The density of nesting Rough-legged Buzzards and Long-tailed Skuas was low. The Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus and Hawk-Owl Surnia ulula were rare and Snowy Owl was seen only once. Herring Gulls nested successfully. Non-breeding Mew Gulls Larus canus were seen regularly, Glaucous Gulls and Arctic Skuas were less common. No Arctic Foxes were encountered. The abundance of bears Ursus arctos, wolverines Gulo gulo, stoat Mustella erminea and especially lynx Linx linx and sable Martes zibellina were estimated as low or very low throughout the region. Wolves on the other hand were quite common.
The most common breeding waders included Ruff, Terek Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint; common - Wood Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Spotted Redshank, and Common Snipe; rare or with highly patchy distribution - Ringed Plover, European Golden-Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Pintail and Jack Snipe. For the first time Great Snipe was recorded in the area. If compared to 1995, in 1997 Terek Sandpipers, Spotted Redshanks and in some areas Bar-tailed Godwits were more common while a Common Sandpiper was seen only once. The overall impression was that the breeding success in many waders was above average or high.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Sorex shrews were rare, while the Siberian Lemming and vole numbers were close to average, i.e. higher than in 1996 and even more so than in 1995.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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