Internattonal Wader Studtes 10. 170-174

Long-term changesin wader populations at the Nature Reserveand its surroundings:1887- 1991 A.S. Gilyazov

Gilyazov,A.S. 1998.Long-term changes in waderpopulations at the LaplandNature Reserve and its surroundings:1887-1991. International Wader Studies 10:170-174

Long-termchanges in thestatus of breedingwaders at the LaplandNature Reserve on the Peninsula(67ø60'N, 31ø55'E) have been demonstrated by thecomparison of publishedstudies in 1887,1948 and 1991.The number of wader speciesrecorded in the LaplandNature Reserve has increasedduring the last 50 yearsmostly due to theoccurence of northernand southern vagrant species.Anthropogenic changes in the environmenthave resulted in the appearanceof Lapwing Vanellusvanellus - a southernspecies. Other vagrant species can also breed irregularly. Golden PloverPluvialis apricaria, Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago and Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus 1obatuswhich were rare 50 yearsago have increased in numbersand become common. A steady declinein numbershas been observed in GreenshankTringa nebularia, Whimbrel Nurnenius phaeopus,and Bar-tailed Godwit Lirnosa lapponica. This is possiblyconnected with negative environmentalchanges on theirmigration routes and/or wintering grounds. Fluctuations in numbersof somewader species can be relatedat leastpartly, with smallrodent population cycles.

AlexS.Gilyazov, Lapland Nature Reserve, Zelenyi per., 8, Monchegorsk, region, 184280, Russia.

F•aasos,A. C.t998. Aoarocpoumae •s•!eHeH•a s nonyaatJ•ax•ya•os s Aanaa•I•C•OM sanose•H•e;t ero ogpec?HOC?ax:t887-t99t. InternatWnal Wader Studies 10: 170-174.

•,oarocpo,m•ae•sMeHe•ms s craryce rHesAsu•xcs aya•aos s AanaaH•CKOMsanose•H•ae Ha Koa•caoMnoayoc?pose (67%0' c.m., 5tø55 ' s.&) 6bias npo•eMOHC?pspoBa,b• Me?O•OM cpaBHeHsspa6oT, ony6asaosaHH•x s t887, t948 s t99i rr. qscaoss•os ayam•os, saperscTpsposaHH•xs AanaaH•caoM sanose•Hsae, sospocao sa nocae•Hse 50 aeTs nepsy•o oqepeAbsa cqeTsaae•'os cesepH•x s •ox,•x ss•os.AH?ponoremI•e ssMeHeHss s oapy•a•o•efi cpe•enoseas a nossaeHs•o•o•Horo ss•a - ,•s6scal/anellus vane#us. MoryT HeperyamIO r•Ies•s•rbcss •pyrse saaeTHb•e ss•a. 3oao?sc?asp•aHaa Pluvtal•s aprrearm, 06•KHOSeHma• 6eaacGal#nago gallinago • •pyrao•Iocb•finaasy•Iqm• Phalaropus lobams, 6•,mume pe•a•MS 50 set uasaa,sospocas s qscae s cTaasO•blKHOBeHHblMI!. C Apyrofi CTOpOH•, 6•a o•'Me,•e•I nOC?OSHH•cnaa q•CaeHHOC?• 6oabuIoro yas?a Trfnga nebularia, cpea.ero KpOHtUHena Numeniusphaeopus s •aaoro sepeTeHHsaaLimosa lapponica, qTO, BO3MO)KHO, csssauo c HeraT•SHb•M•H3MeHeltI4,qMI4 Boapyma•o•efi cpeae Ha SX ny?sx npoaeTa s/sas s MecTax S•MOBOK.Koae6aHss q•caeHHocT• HeKo?opb•x S•AOB ayaSKOS Mory? 6brrb CsSSaHb•, no apafiHe•i •epe qaCTllqltO, C nonyast•SOHH•S •saaa•s •eaKsX rpb•syHOS.

Introduction (Vladimirskaya1948) and 110years ago (Pleske 1887). Thesehistorical data were analysedto The LaplandNature Reserveis situatedin the determinethe reasonsfor the observedchanges in westernpart of the mountainarea of the Kola status. We were mindful of the fact that these peninsulaand occupiesan areaof 2,784km 2. reasonscould be eitherobjective or subjective.Thus, Mountain tundra covers 28% of the reserve area, Pleske (1887) based his own observationsmade forests- 60%,peat-bogs - 8 % and water bodies- 4% during the summerof 1880on the describedroute (Figure1). During the ornithologicalinventory in "western coast of the White Sea - Kandalaksha - the the reserve(Semyonov-Tien-Shansky & Gilyazov Imandra lake (easternshore) - Kola", and also on the 1991)noticeable changes in specieslist, distribution, numerouspublished data for the whole of Lapland status,and numbersof wadersinhabiting the from the Gulf of Bothnia and the Thorneo river in reserveand its surroundingswere recordedin the southand west,up to the Arcticocean coast and comparisonwith the situationboth 50 yearsago the White Seain the north and east. Vladimirskaya

170 Gilyazov: Long-termchanges in wader popttlationsat the LaplandNature Reserveand its surroundings:1887 - 1991

ßß ß ß ß ß ß ß ß ß ß m Nature reserve boundary Researchstations onthe reserve mlm[m[m[m[mlmlmlmWader census routes

Figure 1. Schematicmap of the studyarea.

(1948)used data collected between 1930-1939 only wader sectionof which was written by the late O.I. in the reserveand on adjacentareas in the central Semyonov-Tien-Shansky.Studies on bird part of the .No data on the birdsof populationsin the lowland tundraswere conducted lowland tundras and the marine coasts of the in June1990 in the easternpart of the Kola peninsulawere givenin the latter publication,nor peninsula(200 km to the eastfrom the reserve); oursof 1991. Therefore,the specieslist givenby thesedata were usedfor comparisonwith bird Pleske(1887) is longerdue to its coverageof a larger populationsat the reserve.The list of wadersand geographicalarea with a greaterhabitat diversity. their statusfrom publicationsin 1887,1948 and 1991 is given in Table1. Belowwe discussonly those Our observationsin the LaplandNature Reserve speciesfor which therewere changesin status, and its surroundings(not morethan 20 km from the numbers and distribution. reserve boundaries) were undertaken between 1976- 1992. Studieswere carried out from May to SpeciesAccount Septemberin four areaslocated in differentparts of the reserve: at the Vite river, the Chuna river and Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria the Konyariver valleysand at the Chunalake. As Only twicein the 1930shave Golden Plover been wader numberswere rather low, mostlytransect recorded in the nature reserve: on 28 June 1936 and census methods were used. Constant transects were 27 August1937 at the E1-NyunMount; at that time up to 20 km longin themountain tundras, 130 km - it wasnot breeedingthere (Vladimirskaya 1948). in the river valleys. Waderswere countedon 200m Sincethe 1960sit becamea rathercommon breeding band transects.Additional single route censuses speciesat the mountaintundra habitats,elfin birch were made to estimatemore precisely the woodlandson mountainslopes, and on the vast distributionand numbersof rare and sporadically tussockypeat-bogs with a prevalenceof occurringwaders. Materialsfrom NatureChronicle Cloudberries Rubus chamaemorus and Crowberries and a card-index database maintained on the Empetrumnigrum among sparse stunted pine reservesince the 1930swere alsoanalysed, together forests.Comparative data on the speciesrelative with data usedfor the latestmonograph abundance based on all observations since the 1930s (Semyonov-Tien-Shansky& Gflyazov 1991), the are shown in Tables 2 and 3.

171 International Wader Studies 10: 170-174

Table 1. Long-termchanges in wader populationat the LaplandNature Reserveand its surroundings,with datesof the first recordsof new species(V - vagrant,NB - non-breeding,B - breeding).

Pluvialissquatarola V V Pluvialisapricarius NB B Charadrius hiaticula B B Charadriusvociferus# V 4 August 1970 Charadrius morinellus B B Vandlus vanellus B 1 August 1959 Haematopusostralegus V 31 May 1969 Tringaglareola B B Tringaochropus B 6 May 1977 Tringa nebularia B B Tringatotanus B? 6 June 1979 Tringaerythropus B B Actitishypoleucos B B Xenus cinereus - V 22 July1962 Phalaropuslobatus V B Arenariainterpres - B? July1977 # Philomachuspugnax B B Calidris temminckii B V Calidris minuta - V 7 August 1960 Calidris maritima - V 27 September1958 Calidrisferruginea V V Calidrisalpina - B 27 May 1965 Limicolafalcinellus - B 18 July 1964 Lymnocryptesminimus B B Gallinagogallinago NB B Scolopaxrusticola V V Numeniusphaeopus B B Numeniusarquata - V 18 May 1975 Limosalapponica B V

# - recordis doubtfuland not proven

Analysisof 1981-1992census data revealed rather Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus regularnumerical fluctuations from 0.7 ind./km2 up The firstrecord of thisspecies was on 6 May 1977at to 5.0 ind./km2, which repeatedin every4-5 years the Severnyycreek, and the sameyear we managed and coincidedwith populationcycles of small to find two unfledgedchicks (with an adult)among rodents.This was obviouslya secondary sedgessurrounding a small lake in the Chunariver connection,as a consequenceof predationon valley. LaterGreen Sandpipers were regularly GoldenPlovers clutches. Density of GoldenPlovers observedin variousparts of the naturereserve (in in the upperreaches of the Iokangariver was on the valleysof theChuna, Konya, and Ulynch-Yavr average3.2 ind./kin2 in June1990. In generalno rivers), and severaltimes broods were also found. changeshave been found in numbersand The speciesprefers the taiga parts of rivervalleys. distributionsince 1976: for example,up to five pairs No birdswere found during our studiesat the were regularlybreeding since 1976 on the E1-Nyun Iokangariver valley. Mount of the reserve. Redshank Tringatotanus Lapwing Vanellusvanellus Redshanks were recorded for the first time on 6 For the firsttime four Lapwingswere recordedin June 1979 at the Okht-Ozero lake, later also in the the naturereserve on 1 August 1959at the Okht- samearea at the Ulynch-Yavrand Nyavka lakesand Ozero lake, since then birds have been recorded the Chuna river. When we visited these areas in regularly- mostlyin April-May. Lapwingshave followingyears they were usuallyobserved there beenfound alsoin otherplaces in the Kola again. We supposedthese birds were breedingon peninsula:at the Aynovy Isles(Tatarinkova & the basis of their behaviour. A nest, on which a Chemyakin1965), at the Kitsariver in 1978(A.B. femalewas incubatingthree eggs, was foundon 16 Braginpets. comm.), and on 13 July1990 near the June1990 in the Iokangariver valley. Lovozerosetlement. Breeding has been observed on the fieldsaround Apatity and Monchegorsktowns and at the Kitsa river.

172 Gilyazov:Long-term changes in waderpopulations at theLapland Nature Reserve and its surroundings: 1887 - 1991

Table2. Long-te•mchanges in numbersof GoldenPlover.

•ears 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990-1992

Total number of birds recorded 2 0 0 164 276 206 79

Number of birds per year per observer 0.2 0.0 0.0 9.8 7.5 6.2 7.2

Greenshank Tringanebularia bred in smallnumbers (Vladimirskaya 1948, p. 203- Thisspecies was "among the cornmonestwaders" in 204). Later, even if we take into account the 1930s(Vladimirskaya 1948, p. 205). Only oneor observationsmade by youngnaturalists in July 1969 two pairsper 10km wererecorded at theChuna (Semyonov-Tien-Shansky& Gilyazov 1991), it is river and lessthan 1 pair/10krl'l 2 at the Vuva river in clearthat the specieshas almost disappeared from 1976-1990- i.e.recently it cannotbe calledabundant. the reserveduring the last50 years. At the same Numbersof Greenshankswere on average5 birds/ time, it is one of the commonest waders at the year/perobserver in 1959-1967,increasing to 10.5 Iokangariver valley as its numbersin June1990 birds/year/perobserver between 1968-1975 and, were about2.5 pairs/kin2. since1976 declining to 5 ind./year/observer(Table 3). This twofold decline between 1976-1992 is observed Discussion alsofrom transectcensus data. Simultaneously Twelvemore species have been added to the list of slightnumerical fluctuations in each4-5 yearperiod wadersof the reserveand its surroundingsduring werenoticed, which were probably connected with the last50 years. Sevenof themmigrate across the smallmammal changes. Similar parallel reserve to the coasts and tundras: Turnstone fluctuations(with peaksin 1958,1964, 1969, 1974, Arenariainterpres, Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola 1978,1982,1988,1991) were observedalso for falcinellus,Dunlin Calidrisalpina, Little Stint C. SpottedRedshank Tringa erythropus, Common minuta,Purple Sandpiper C. ferruginea, Redshank SandpiperActitis hypoleucos, and CommonSnipe Tringatotanus and OystercatcherHaematopus Gallinagogallinago (Table 3). During thestudies in ostralegus.Five speciesare eithervagrants or have the Iokangariver valleyno Greenshankswere spreadto Laplandeither from the southor south- found. west:Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper Xenuscinereus, Curlew Numeniusarquata, and Common Snipe Gallinagogallinago Killdeer PloverCharadrius vociferus. Dunlin and At the end of 19thcentury the specieswas rather Broad-billedSandpiper breed irregularly, Redshank rare and did not breed(Pleske 1887, p. 432). In the and Turnstonepresumably breed also. Among 1930sit was alreadycommon in the naturereserve, southernspecies Lapwing and GreenSandpiper are but breedingwas not confirmed(Vladimirskaya now breedingregularly, Lapwings prefer to breedin 1948,p. 206). Currentlythe CommonSnipe is oneof anthropogeniclandscapes (arable lands and the commonest waders, its nests and broods are pastures).There is no doubt,that the increasein the regularlyrecorded. The species is widespreadand numbersof waders,with 12 new species,has been a occursalso in the lowland tundrasof Iokangariver, real changeand not the resultof greaterintensity of wherenumbers do not exceed0.5-1 pair/krn 2. recording.Some doubts exist only asto the statusof GreenSandpiper: since the first recordthe species Whimbrel Numeniusphaeopus hasbeen seen commonly and foundregularly. As it Whimbrel was common in the 1930s, however, since couldbe confusedsometimes with WoodSandpiper that time the indexof recordshas fallen by a factor Tringaglareola and as its numbersat that time were of 2-4. Its densityin the reservewas on average2.5 ratherlow, it probablyhadnt been recorded earlier pairs/100krl'l 2 in 1970-1980s,at the Iokangariver for rathera longperiod. valleyabout 20 pairs/100krl'l 2 in June1990. Irregular fluctuationsby a factorof up to four areobserved Anothergroup is formedby thewidespread and are connected with weather conditions: in late commonbreeding species, which wereconsidered and coldsprings migrating Whimbrels obviously earlier to be non-breeders: Golden Plover, Common remainin moresoutherly areas, whilst in earlyand Snipeand Red-neckedPhalarope. The latterspecies warm springsthey move futher north. is not very commonand its numbersfluctuate sharplyas the major part of itsbreeding range is either to the north or to the east of the nature Bar-tailedGodwit Limosa lapponica Pleske(1887) observedBar-tailed Godwits in 1880 reserve.At the sametime, analysisof its recent nearZasheyek, at the Kolozerolake, and in the statusin the reserveshows that breeding occurs lower Tulomariver and mentionedthat they were everyone or two years. CommonSnipe and Golden foundin ninemore places in Lapland.According to Ploverare much more widespread and probably have increased their numbers in the last 50 -100 the data collected in 1932-1938, Bar-tailed Godwits

173 International Wader Studies 10: 170-174

Table3. Numbersof waders(number of recordsper observerper year)and small mammals (ind. per 100traps per day) between 1960-1991.

Pluvialisapricaria 7 1 6 14 25 8 9 14 11 4 5 2 8 12 612 Tringaglareola 15 ? ? 23 30 17 17 9 21 25 22 26 14 9 3121 Tringanebularia 5 ? 3 8 8 3 3 5 8 12 10 10 12 11 912 Tringaerythropus 1 ? ? 3 11 4 2 3 2 2 4 4 3 7 23 Actitishypoleucos 23 21 30 88 57 57 28 41 43 64 35 19 35 50 5136 Gallinagogallinago 10 2 4 ? 19 16 8 11 15 20 12 13 8 11 2311 Numeniusphaeopus 8 1 1 2 4 5 2 6 8 7 2 2 1 5 30

Small mammals 0.2 2.2 40.2 39.1 38.5 3.8 4.6 10.8 12.2 19.7 25.8 8.6 16.8 48.1 40.15.0 (Microtusspp., Lemmusspp., Clethrionomysspp., Sorexspp.)

Table 3. (continued)

Pluvialisapricaria 5 14 6 5 5 7 7 2 1 9 4 15 8 4 6 8 Tringaglareola 13 22 22 26 20 16 59 32 33 42 21 18 58- 34 23 42 Tringanebularia 2 3 6 5 4 4 10 3 4 9 6 5 6 7 3 6 Tringaerythropus 2 2 8 9 7 5 12 5 11 4 5 4 11 1 2 5 Actitishypoleucos 41 43 43 30 40 50 46 62 33 38 39 35 46 35 62 41 Gallinagogallinago 10 15 17 21 10 12 20 21 18 21 10 25 18 11 13 17 Numeniusphaeopus 2 2 7 7 4 2 8 2 4 5 6 8 5 8 5 7

Small mammals 12.0 44.6 28.5 1.4 8.6 28.3 43.8 16.0 2.2 8.8 23.4 63.2 34.9 0.4 5.8 32.6 (Microtusspp., Lemmusspp., Clethrionomysspp., Sorexspp.)

years,asalthough they were rare in the 1930sthey influencedby smallmammal population cycles. are now common. Thisphenomenon undoubtedly deserves futher study. A numberof otherwaders have showna steady decline in numbers over the last decades: References Greenshank,Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit. All Vladimirskaya,M.I. 1948.Birds of theLapland Nature thesewaders are ratherlarge and thusattract the Reserve.In: A.A. Nasymovich(ed.), Transactions of attentionof game-hunters.As the environmentof theLapland nature reserve 3: 171-245.Sovmin RSFSR, the naturereserve has not changed,the reasonsfor Moscow. In Russian. the declinein thesespecies should be sought Pleske,ED. 1887. Criticalreview on mammals and birds of the elsewhere. Kolapeninsula, pp. 414-468.Imperial Academy of Sciences,St. Petersburg. In Russian. Wherecyclic fluctuations in numbersoccur, these Semyonov-Tien-Shansky,O.I. & Gilyazov,A.S. 1991. Birds cannotbe consideredto be stablelong-term trends, ofLapland, pp.127-155. Nauka, Moscow. In thoughthey are noticed only during long-term Russian. observations.This is shownalso by the factthat Tatarinkova,I.P. & Chemyakin,R.G. 1975. Supplementsto suchfluctuations are found only in the most thebird faunaof theAynovy Isles. In: Thenatural commonspecies for whichplenty of dataare environmentand biological resources ofthe extreme available(Table 3). The durationof suchpopulation North,pp. 33-37.Nauka, Leningrad. In Russian. cyclesvaries and doesnot coincidein different species;this indicates that theyare not only

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