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RESPONDENT
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Mikhail Soloviev
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SITE NAME
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Bludnaya River mouth, Taimyr, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (495)9394424 // mikhail-soloviev@yandex.ru // Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, 119992 Moscow, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Wader Monitoring Project at Taimyr
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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20.06
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5.08
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3
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| Spring was phenologically early. Low snow accumulation over the winter lead to its quick melting and minimal flooding. As a result for the first time in a 4 year-series the Bludnaya river floodplain was not flooded. The summer was relatively warm and dry, without snowstorms and heavy rains during the breeding season.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
5-7 June
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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: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Rodent-dependent raptors did not nest with the exception of a few pairs of Rough-legged Buzzards. No owls were seen. As far as skuas, only several Long-tailed Skua pairs nested in the area. Encounters with Arctic Foxes were regular throughout the summer, one pup was seen too. Incubation in waders started in mid-June, which, judging from 4 years of observations, can be considered early for the region. The general breeding density was not high: in phalaropes and Ruff this could be a result of their re-distribution to the water-free in this season river floodplain. The high Arctic Fox abundance caused low breeding success in waders (8-18% in common nesting species).
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Judging from the number of lemmings noted in the area, their numbers dropped noticeably (ca. 3-fold in the Siberian Lemming, Collared Lemming was seen only once) in comparison with the previous, peak year; nevertheless they were periodically observed during the summer, although sometimes not for a few days in a row.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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