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RESPONDENT
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Brian McCaffery
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SITE NAME
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Kanaryarmiut Field Station, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| 907-543-1014/907-543-4413(f) // brian_mccaffery@fws.gov // U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 346, Bethel, AK, 99559, USA
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) and Dunlin (C. alpina) demography on the central
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
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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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| 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: |
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Breeding conditions:
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| At this site, Dunlins are limited to low-lying sedge-graminoid meadows dominated by Carex rariflora and C. ramenskii. According to mapping of territorial males and/or intensive nest searches in 3 meadows totalling 73 ha Dunlin density was 1.06 nests/ha. Mayfield nest success in Dunlin was 30%, and in Western Sandpiper declined from 56% in 1998 to 24% in 1999. Increased numbers of Mink, Arctic Fox, and Long-tailed Skuas apparently accounted for the annual variation. Seven of 52 nests of Western Sandpiper found on the plot were renests. Only 1 of these renesting attempts hatched successfully. In response to predation of early clutches, one female laid 3 consecutive clutches, producing 11 eggs in just 41 days. Among 16 broods monitored on the study plot, 12 fledged at least 1 young.
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Rodent dynamics:
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Rodent species recorded:
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
| Overall project objectives include documenting population trends and determining the factors on the breeding grounds which contribute to variation in the population growth rate, including: 1) seasonal variation in reproductive output, 2) age-related variation in reproductive output, and 3) variation in brood survival as a function of variation in parental attendance.
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