24 research outputs found
Dvärgmus funnen på Åland 2015
Get PDFOccurrence of the harvest mouse Micromys minutus confirmed in the Ă…land Islands
The harvest mouse, Micromys minutus (Pallas, 1771), is widespread in Finland, except on the Åland Islands, where it has been lacking until now. It has only recently been recorded from the Scandinavian Peninsula, where it first was found in 1985, in Dalsland county in SW Sweden (Loman 1986). Since then, more records have been made in Sweden, both in Dalsland, Värmland, Skåne, Västgötland and also as far north as Norrland (Enoksson 1990, Enoksson & Loman 2004, Hagström 2004, Hallman 2005, Råberg & Holmqvist 2008, Kooij et al. 2016). In Norway the first record was made in 2001, in Hedmark county, SE Norway (Kooij et al. 2001).
On 23rd of August 2015 a freshly dead juvenile (5,6 g) harvest mouse was found on the west coast of Enklinge, an inhabited 6 ˟ 3 km island in the NE archipelago of the Åland Islands. The specimen, now in the collection of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, was found 3–4 m from the shore line, in the upper part of a small meadow, below the terrace of a small cottage (all coordinates given in ETRS-TM35FIN, N 6705814 / E 154822). It is supposed to have been caught by a cat, repeatedly seen in the neighbourhood. No catching of micromammals has been conducted on Enklinge. However, on the larger neighbouring inhabited island Kumlinge, ca 5 km S of Enklinge, micromammals systematically were caught in 1984 and 1985, however, with no records of harvest mice.
Some observations of harvest mice from islands off the Finnish mainland are also reported. A harvest mouse was caught in the 1970s on the small island Pitkäkari (N 6729971 / E 185887) in the municipality of Kustavi. In June 2013 22 dead harvest mice were found in a washing-up bowl in a small summer cottage on the island Stor-Wehaks (N 6750722 / E 189006) off the city Uusikaupunki, at the west coast of the Bothnian Sea. Records of harvest mice from two islands off Dalsbruk in the municipality of Kimitoön SE from Turku are also reported (Lilla Öland, N 6658925 / E 252374, Träskön, N 6654924 / E 249616). On the south coast of the island Örö (N 6638241 / E 238682), in the outer part of the Archipelago Sea National Park, one harvest mouse was caught in a light trap for Lepidoptera 28.9–7.11.2016. Further east, in the western part of the Gulf of Finland, on the island Gästans (ca N 6645285 / E 317008), in the outer part of the Snappertuna (Raseborg) archipelago, harvest mice and their nests were recorded already in the later part of the 1950s, and again in the early 1980s, at least in 1984. Micromammals have systematically ben caught 1985–2016 in a house inhabited all-the-year-round on the island Sondarö (N 6684027 / E 447912) in the municipality of Pernå. The northernmost part of Sondarö is 0,4 kilometer apart from the mainland. Harvest mice have been caught in the house 1985, 1989, 1995, 2005, 2009 and 2013, out of which 2005 was extraordinary rich in harvest mice.
Finally, there is a comment on the water vole (Arvicola terrestris) whose recent and ongoing postglacial expansion to the west has reached the easternmost islands of the Ă…land Islands, a process documented especially by studying prey remnants in nests of the Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) on islands and treeless skerries
Henrik Wallgren, In memoriam
Get PDFDen 14 augusti 2014 avled filosofie doktor, professor emeritus Henrik Wallgren i sin födelsestad Helsingfors. Han var född den 25 juni 1928
A new record of Arctic Bramble, Rubus arcticus, in the Ă…land Islands, SW Finland
Get PDFThe Arctic Bramble, Rubus arcticus L., was found in Gottby in the municipality of Jomala, the Ă…land Islands, SWFinland, in June 2009. It was both flowering and fruiting, although rather sparingly. This boreal species has not been observed in the Ă…land Islands since 1950. The total distribution of the species is outlined.An account is given of the previous six observations of R. arcticus in Ă…land. The dispersal of the seeds (endocarps with seeds) of R. arcticus is treated
Spatial and dietary sources of elevated mercury exposure in white-tailed eagle nestlings in an Arctic freshwater environment
Get PDFHuman-induced mercury (Hg) contamination is of global concern and its effects on wildlife remain of high concern, especially in environmental hotspots such as inland aquatic ecosystems. Mercury biomagnifies through the food web resulting in high exposure in apex predators, such as the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), making them excellent sentinel species for environmental Hg contamination. An expanding population of white-tailed eagles is inhabiting a sparsely populated inland area in Lapland, northern Finland, mainly around two large reservoirs flooded 50 years ago. As previous preliminary work revealed elevated Hg levels in this population, we measured Hg exposure along with dietary proxies (delta C-13 and delta N-15) in body feathers collected from white-tailed eagle nestlings in this area between 2007 and 2018. Mercury concentrations were investigated in relation to territory characteristics, proximity to the reservoirs and dietary ecology as potential driving factors of Hg contamination. Mercury concentrations in the nestlings (4.97-31.02 mu g g(-1) dw) were elevated, compared to earlier reported values in nestlings from the Finnish Baltic coast, and exceeded normal background levels (40.00 mu g g(-1)). The main drivers of Hg contamination were trophic position (proxied by delta N-15), the dietary proportion of the predatory fish pike (Esox Lucius), and the vicinity to the Porttipahta reservoir. We also identified a potential evolutionary trap, as increased intake of the preferred prey, pike, increases exposure. All in all, we present results for poorly understood freshwater lake environments and show that more efforts should be dedicated to further unravel potentially complex pathways of Hg exposure to wildlife.Peer reviewe
