|
The bars show survey results at the world’s largest ivory gull nesting colony on Domashny Island. Numbers of nesting ivory gulls fluctuate from year to year depending on environmental conditions in the pre-breeding season (mid-May). In the northeastern Kara Sea, where wildlife is limited by the harsh ice conditions, polynyas are important for foraging [255]. More gulls are able to build up enough fat resources for egg-laying when there is more open water in a large nearby polynya prior to nesting. If the area of the polynya remains below a threshold of about 10,000 square kilometers (dashed line) by mid-May, dramatically fewer gulls nest at the colony, as occurred in 1996, 2009 and 2011.
From Gavrilo 2011 [222]
Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF)
The data can be downloaded freely. Users are requested to reference the source.
Eamer, J., Donaldson, G.M., Gaston, A.J., Kosobokova, K.N., Lárusson, K.F., Melnikov, I.A., Reist, J.D., Richardson, E., Staples, L., von Quillfeldt, C.H. 2013. Life Linked to Ice: A guide to sea-ice-associated biodiversity in this time of rapid change. CAFF Assessment Series No. 10. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Iceland. ISBN: 978-9935-431-25-7.
|