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SITE NAME
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Yensoryakha River lower reaches, Yamal Peninsula, Russia
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
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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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4.06
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24.06
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3
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| In scrub tundra subzone both slopes and river floodplain became snow-free by 4 June, floodplain lakes were partially ice-free, while upland lakes were completely ice-bound. In June the weather was windy and cold with a lot of precipitation in the form of rain and snow, night-time frosts and temporary snow accumulation of up to 10 cm (17 June). During the observation period (till 24 June) only two days (9 and 19 June) were warm and sunny (up to +15^C).
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
4.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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Four Arctic Fox sightings were made in the river valley and all of the 12 investigated dens turned out to be empty. Other noted predators included Arctic Skua and Herring Gull (common), Long-tailed and Pomarine Skua (less common), Short-eared Owl (single individuals), Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus (1 pair) and a female Merlin Falco columbarius. The Rough-legged Buzzard breeding density was 0.13 pair/km2 and 5 searched eyries contained smaller-than-usual clutches (4 eggs or less).
Despite the cold weather in June, timing of migration and start of the nesting season was on time. Common breeders included European Golden-Plovers, Ringed Plovers, Wood Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalaropes, Ruff, Temminck's Stints, Dunlin and Common Snipe. Little Stint, Sanderling Calidris alba, Curlew Sandpiper, single Spotted Redshanks Tringa erythropus and Ruddy Turnstones were seen on passage. The water-logged patches formed around the railway under construction and slopes of its sand-and-gravel base created favourable conditions for roosting of transient and breeding of local waders.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| No lemmings were trapped, vole numbers were low: 2 Middendorff's Microtus middendorfi and 1 Narrow-skulled Voles were captured over 500 trap-days.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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