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RESPONDENT
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Dmitri Karelin
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SITE NAME
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Cape Barrow, Alaska, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (095)495-15-55 (home); (095)939-22-54 (off.) // dkarelin@pochta.ru;dkarelin@cepl.rssi.ru // Dmitrovskoe Shosse, apt.61, block 1, build. 99, Moscow, 127247, Russia
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Dynamics of water, carbon dioxide and eneregy flows in near-ground atmospheric layer of Beringean tundra ecosystems
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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2.06
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15.08
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12
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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Weather conditions: |
| All plants delayed flowering in accordance with delay of snowmelt in June. On many lakes in coastal area ice completely melted off only by 10 July, however, sea remained ice-free near the coast from the second half of July to mid August. July was warm and dry, without strong winds; August was cold, windy and rainy, with frequent fogs and predominant north-east winds.
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| Date of 50%
snow-cover: |
12.06
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
21.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
average
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Breeding conditions:
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Human activities have significant influence on numbers of large mammals (except for Polar Bear), as Eskimo people are not subject to general hunting regulations. They also actively use small all-terrain vehicle in tundra. This leads to avoiding of the area by Caribou and Arctic Foxes, while recrements of whaling attract many Polar Bears and even Grizzly Bears in summer. Rather high rodent abundance allowed successful breeding in relatively high numbers of skuas, including Pomorine Skua, and Snowy Owls. Low pressure of avian predators on birds and virtual absence of Arctic Foxes were responsible for high nest success: none of nests under control was depredated.
Impact of weather on breeding birds was ambiguous: late and cold spring caused delay of reproduction in birds, except for Dunlins, Pectoral and Baird's sandpipers, but July was favourable, and August cold again.
Generally, reproductive success can be considered high for Dunlin, Pectoral and Baird's sandpipers, eiders, redpols, Snow Bunting, judging by numbers of broods in tundra, and average in Red and Red-necked phalaropes, presumably more affected by late snowmelt and adverse weather in August.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Voles were seen in tundra daily, lemmings - not every day, but their number increased compared to 1998.
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
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