plovers, Arctic terns, western sandpipers, ruddy turnstones, spotted sand- 

 pipers, glaucous gulls, northern phaiaropes, and semipalmated sandpipers. At 

 sites that provided desirable conditions, primarily abundant food supplies, 

 the disturbed areas supported abundant shorebird populations. At the Penny 

 River, 56 individuals of 8 species of water birds were using the 15-ha mined 

 site during the nesting season, while at Aufeis Creek 100 individuals of 13 

 species of water birds were present within the site during the post-nesting 

 period. At both study sites, these numbers were a several factor increase 

 over the numbers of individuals and species present in the undisturbed 

 reaches of these floodplains. 



Flooded pits provided feeding and/or nesting habitat for waterfowl 

 (most frequently green-winged teal, mallard, red-breasted merganser, pin- 

 tail, bufflehead, and Barrow's goldeneye). Tree, violet-green, and bank 

 swallows, Arctic terns, mew gulls, and herring gulls also were frequent ly 

 observed feeding in these pits. 



At seven sites ground squirrels were found to be more abundant within 

 the disturbed areas than within adjacent undisturbed zones (Table 28). At 

 six of the seven sites this response was directly related to the presence of 

 overburden piles located within or at the edge of the material sites. These 

 piles provided denning sites, convenient observation posts, and the first 

 available food source (through vegetative development) within the mined 

 site. At several sites (Washington Creek, Penny River, and Skeetercake 

 Creek) the only ground squirrels observed were in the mined site. 



In addition, at West Fork Tolovana River, Tanana River-Downstream, and 

 Tanana R i ver-Upstream, beaver were actively using the ponded waters in these 

 pits. Muskrat also were encountered at the Tanana R i ver-Upstream pit. 



Altered Distribution 



Moose and ptarmigan concentrate many of their winter activities in 

 dense floodplain thickets. Evidence of their past presence was recorded at 

 most sites and in all four regions. These animals normally move throughout 

 large areas, hence the localized removal of vegetated habitat was not be- 



252 



