LONG-TERM POPULATION DYNAMICS OF SEABIRDS BREEDING IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE WHITE SEA

The results of a comparison of the long-term population dynamics of seabirds breeding in the western part of the White Sea are presented, both on protected and unprotected islands. A series of observations was conducted for more than 50 years in the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve and for more than 30 years in the Solovetsky Archipelago. The dynamics of the breeding part of the population were analyzed for six species occurring in both study areas. The population trends of the Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, the Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, and the Black Guillemot, Cepphus grylle, were the same in the two areas, while those of the Eurasian Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus, the Common Gull, Larus canus, and the Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres differed. The uniform trends are due to similar natural conditions of the breeding and wintering grounds of the birds in the Solovetsky Archipelago and Kandalaksha Bay. The discrepancies are mostly associated with different protection regimes on the islands used for breeding, as well as with an increased pressure of both terrestrial and avian predators on seabird colonies in the recent decades.