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Brent goose colonies near snowy owls: Internest distances in relation to breeding arctic fox densities

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Abstract

It was shown that in the years when the numbers of the Arctic foxes are high, even though the lemming numbers are high as well, Brent geese nest considerably closer to owls’ nests than in the years with low Arctic fox numbers. At values of the Arctic fox densities greater than one breeding pair per 20 km2, the factor of lemming numbers ceases to affect the distance between owl and geese nests. This distance becomes dependent on the Arctic fox density (numbers). When the Arctic fox density is greater than the pronounced threshold, the owl-Brent internest distance is inversely and linearly related to the Arctic fox density.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Russian Bird Ringing Center, Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117312, Russia

    S. P. Kharitonov, B. S. Ebbinge & J. de Fouw

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  1. S. P. Kharitonov
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  2. B. S. Ebbinge
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  3. J. de Fouw
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Correspondence to S. P. Kharitonov.

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Original Russian Text © S.P. Kharitonov, B.S. Ebbinge, J. de Fouw, 2013, published in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya, 2013, No. 1, pp. 53–59.

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Kharitonov, S.P., Ebbinge, B.S. & de Fouw, J. Brent goose colonies near snowy owls: Internest distances in relation to breeding arctic fox densities. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 40, 45–51 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235901301007X

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235901301007X

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