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RESPONDENT
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Alexander Artyukhov
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SITE NAME
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Udzha River, middle and lower reaches, Yakutia, 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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2
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| The amount of snow exceeded average in northern forest tundra and southern tundra, consequently snow-free patches were almost missing by 2 June outside settlements. Ice-break started on 9-11 June, and tundra became 70-90% snow-free only about 16-18 June, which is 5-8 days later than usual. Flood level was close to the highest in the last 30 years. Larch started to green on 21-23 June. Ice on large lakes disappeared on 3-5 July. No snowfalls or temperature falls occured during spring and summer. As summer was relatively dry, rivers became very shallow in late July.
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
9-11 June
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
>18 June
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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| Buzzards nested at low density in areas where larch was still present, even more rare were Merlins, Northern Goshawks, Golden Eagles, Lapland Owls, and Long-tailed Skuas. Gyrfalcons nested. Among gulls Common were frequent breeders, Herring - rare. Outside settlements were rare Ravens, Hooded and Carrion Crows. Arctic Foxes were absent in southern tundra to the north from Udzha River, but were common in forest tundra and riverine forests of Udzha River and Anabar River. At least some of them were breeding. Ermines were recorded, wolves were common, sable - extremely rare. Relatively high was nesting density of Jack Snipe in Udzha floodplain, in some places - density of Ringed Plover, Spotted Redshank, Temmink's Stint. Locally common were Wood Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Ruff, Common Spine, and less often Pintail Snipe. Very rare were Red-necked and Red Phalaropes, Whimbrel was only breeding in vicinities of Ebelyakh settlement. Waders were not met in dry upland tundra from the end of June. Very low was breeding density of all wildfowl, and most passerine species. Arctic foxes and wolves often destroyed bird clutches, including island nests of gulls. Breeding success was low in most waders, and probably average in only Ringed Plover, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, and Jack Snipe.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Voles were rare in forest tundra and riverine forests, and not found at all in dry watershed tundra.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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