Characteristic birds of the Baltic Sea, such as the common eider (Somateria mollissima) and the long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), have declined sharply in number in recent decades. Between 1990 and 2009, the number of wintering long-tailed ducks, common eiders, velvet scoters (Melanitta fusca) and common scoters (Melanitta nigra) in the Baltic Sea more than halved, from 7 million birds to less than 3 million. Since then, the number of common eiders and long-tailed ducks has continued to decline. The long-tailed duck is now classified as globally vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and the common eider is classified as near threatened on a global scale.

The long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis) nests on the tundra in Arctic Russia but also in northern Scandinavia. A large part of the world population of the long-tailed ducks are found in the Baltic Sea during the winter. However, populations of this beautiful waterbird have decreased drastically, with 65 percent, since the early 1990s. AEWA, Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, has adopted a ‘Single Species Action Plan’ for the long-tailed duck. 

Why are then the long-tailed duck populations decreasing? There are several threats, both on its wintering and nesting locations, relating to shipping, fishing, exploitation of offshore banks, climate change and changing predation pressures in the Arctic.

Professor Larsson will talk on the subject “ Long-tailed ducks in the Baltic Sea: The need to reduce anthropogenic threats and maintain connectivity between wintering sites” and Dr Sergey Kouzov will share research on waterbird communities in the Gulf of Finland. 

Researchers: 

Kjell Larsson, Professor Emeritus of Maritime Science and Environment, Linnaeus University, Växjö/Kalmar

Dr Sergey Kouzov , Senior Researcher at the Department of Applied Ecology, Saint Petersburg State University 
 

Practical information

Date and time: Tuesday 30 November 2021, 9:00-9:45 (CET, Local time in Stockholm)

The webinar is interpreted simultaneously between Russian and English. The English version is broadcast at Youtube. No registration is needed.

To follow the webinar in Russian, follow this link to register and you will receive a Zoom link an hour before the event.

Questions to the researchers can be asked during the webinar at the Youtube page or in Zoom.

This webinar is jointly organised by the Consulate of Sweden in Saint Petersburg and the Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre.