Year-round spatiotemporal distribution pattern of a threatened sea duck species breeding on Kolguev Island, south-eastern Barents Sea ...

• Main Authors: Karwinkel, Thiemo, Pollet, Ingrid L., Vardeh, Sandra, Kruckenberg, Helmut, Glazov, Petr, Loshchagina, Julia, Kondratyev, Alexander, Merkel, Benjamin, Bellebaum, Jochen, Quillfeldt, Petra, Justus Liebig University Giessen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universitätsbibliothek Gießen 2020
• Subjects: long-tailed duck; Clangula hyemalis; Baltic Sea; Geolocation; sea duck; Conservation; Russian Arctic; ddc570; Arctic; Barents Sea; Kolguev; Novaya Zemlya; White Sea
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-92; https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/147

Background: The long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis) was categorized as ´Vulnerable` by the IUCN after a study revealed a rapid wintering population decline of 65% between 1992–1993 and 2007–2009 in the Baltic Sea. As knowledge about the European long-tailed duck’s life cycle and movement ecology is limited, we investigate its year-round spatiotemporal distribution patterns. Specifically, we aimed to identify the wintering grounds, timing of migration and staging of this population via light-level geolocation. Results: Of the 48 female long-tailed ducks tagged on Kolguev Island (western Russian Arctic), 19 were recaptured to obtain data. After breeding and moulting at freshwater lakes, ducks went out to sea around Kolguev Island and to marine waters ranging from the White Sea to Novaya Zemlya Archipelago for 33 ± 10 days. After a rapid autumn migration, 18 of 19 birds spent their winter in the Baltic Sea and one bird in the White Sea, where they stayed for 212 ± 3 days. There, they used areas known to host ...