Running overnight and struggling to find sea ice: long-distance movement by an arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) from Russia

Abstract

Given the scale, speed and complexity of recent changes in the Arctic, our understanding of their multiple implications for Arctic biota is still limited. We detail for the first time in the vast Russian Arctic the long-distance movement of an arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus Linnaeus, 1758) tracked with a GPS/Iridium collar providing considerably high precision (several meters) and frequency of locations (every 4 hours). Revealed diurnal activity patterns of the arctic fox indicate that it ran greater distances in night hours and shortest in day hours during the most intense movement period. The movement records suggested several attempts to leave the land, as it seemed to encounter open water four times on different parts of Yamal peninsula. The arctic fox crossed the Ob Bay towards the Gydan peninsula and satellite imagery of discontinuous ice during crossing suggested that it might have stayed on pieces of floating ice. Our observation may support evidence that a reduction in the duration and extent of sea ice could affect the ability of arctic foxes to cover long distances and thus, in the long-term, the connectivity between populations. Similar studies are needed aiming to understand movement ecology of the arctic foxes in the changing Arctic.