Habitat use and population dynamics of the Azure-Winged Magpie ...

eeding species have high survival rates, and longevity seems to be a contributing factor to
cooperative breeding in the Splendid fairy-wrens (Rowley & Russell, 1990).
The Khonin Nuga C. cyanus colony is small –an average of 37 individuals present per year
(starting population in May) [cf. 40-60 breeding birds in Spain (de la Cruz, pers. comm.) and up
to 287 individuals in Japan (Imanishi, 2002)]. Perhaps with recent colonisation, small numbers
are normal (although there was no increase or decrease in colony size over the four years), and
data from this study has shown that this is most likely an open population. It would be interesting
to see in the near future if numbers and geographic range do increase in the Northern Mongolian
C. cyanus populations.
4.5 The Fire Situation in Mongolia and the West Khentii Region
As in other developing countries, Mongolia’s management of natural resources suffers from
unregulated use, overuse, and inadequate protection. There was a revolution in the political,
social and economic situation in the 1990s. The cessation of the Soviet era and state-subsidised
social services in Mongolia, combined with access to formerly restricted markets, has exposed
forests and steppes to threats such as fire, overgrazing, mining activities, improper commercial
logging, illegal collection of wood for construction and fuel, hay making in forest steppes,
complacency in enforcement of forest rules and regulations, and damage by pests and diseases.
Fires, by far, have had the most serious impact on the forests of Mongolia (Bayartaa et al., 2007).
Fires generally occur in spring (March to mid June) and in autumn (September to October)
(Bayartaa et al., 2007). The spring fires account for 80 percent of all fires, while the fires in
autumn account for five to eight percent. Fires occur during these periods because dry fuel loads
are at their highest. In summer, fires are uncommon because this is the time of highest
precipitation.
Between 1981 and 1999 there were on average 160 wildfires per year in Mongolia. However the
average area burnt in the 1990s was around 4,771,297 hectares per year, compared to one-fifth of
that in the 1980s (Goldammer, 2002). From the years 2000 to 2008 the average number of fires
per year was 188, and the area burnt was an average of 3,253,000 ha/ year (Johnson et al., 2009).
The increase in the number of fires in the last two decades is related to anthropogenic causes.
They are mostly accidents, caused by herders, loggers and hunters. Fires can start by carelessness
from a campfire, tracer bullets used by hunters to hunt deer, or sparks from vehicle exhaust pipes
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