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Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia

Article in The Korean Journal of Ornithology · December 2017

DOI: 10.30980/KJO.2017.12.24.2.13

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Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia

저자 Onolragchaa Ganbold, Gi-Chang Bing, In-Hwan Paik, Erdenetushig Purevee, Munkhbaatar

(Authors) Munkhbayar, Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan, Woon Kee Paek

출처 한국조류학회지 24(2), 2017.12, 13-23 (11 pages)

(Source) The Korean Journal of Ornithology 24(2), 2017.12, 13-23 (11 pages)

한국조류학회
발행처
The Ornithological Society Of Korea
(Publisher)

URL http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Article/NODE07292686

APA Style Onolragchaa Ganbold, Gi-Chang Bing, In-Hwan Paik, Erdenetushig Purevee, Munkhbaatar
Munkhbayar, Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan, Woon Kee Paek (2017). Avifauna of Mongol Daguur
important bird area in Eastern Mongolia. 한국조류학회지, 24(2), 13-23.

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Kor. J. Orni. Vol. 24, No. 2 : 13-22, 2017

Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia

Onolragchaa Ganbold1･Gi-Chang Bing2･In-Hwan Paik2･Erdenetushig Purevee3･
Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar3･Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan3･Woon Kee Paek2*
1
Department of Animal Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
2
Division of Research and Promotion, National Science Museum of Korea, Daejeon 34143, Korea
3
Departments of Biology, Mongolian National University of Education, Ulaanbaatar-210648, Mongolia

The Mongol Daguur Steppe was established within the Mongolian Protected Areas Network as
a Strictly Protected Area in 1992. The steppe is considered one of the world’s outstanding biological
ecoregions and Mongol Daguur supports several globally threatened species. The Mongol Daguur
Steppe’s avifauna remains poorly investigated, despite some research over the past two centuries.
Foreign scientists, especially Russians, conducted studies on the basic avifauna of the reserve (indeed,
all of Mongolia) in the 19th and 20th Centuries. We collected data on bird species and the threats
in the Mongol Daguur Important Bird Area (IBA; MNO66) for 9 days, consisted of 3 days from
May, July and Septemer of 2016. Our avifauna study in the area covered 13 small to moderate
sized lakes. A total of 111, 65, and 90 species were recorded in May, July, and September, respectively.
The most dominant species were the Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna, with 3,452 individuals
in 33 groups; the Common Pochard Aythya ferina with 2,161 counted birds in 11 groups, and
the Swan Goose Anser cygnoides, with 643 counted birds in 19 groups. The prolonged drought
was strongly affected for drying out of small salty lakes in our study sites, 3 totally dried out
lakes were recorded. In addition, poor to moderate strength of impact from livestock husbandry
at the wetlands.

key words: important Bird Area (IBA), diversity, threats, steppe fire, migratory birds

Introduction

Mongolia retains a substantial amount of its “natural” biodiversity and although biodiversity indices are
not as high as those found in many tropical systems, they are still considered high (Reading et al. 2006).
Two of the world’s most biologically outstanding ecoregions, the Daurian Steppes (Mongol Daguur) and
the Altai-Sayan Mountains (David et al. 2000; WWF) are situated within the country. The Mongol Daguur
Steppe (also known as Daurian Steppes) was established as a Strictly Protected Area with two sections,
A and B, in 1992. In addition, the protected area was registered as a World Heritage site (second category)
and within the RAMSAR Convention (2004) for protecting the area’s unique landscapes and biodiversity
(Myagmarsuren et al. 2000, 2007).

* Corresponding author: Woon Kee Paek, E-mail: paekwk@nsmk.kr

Received November 2, 2017, Revised Novembe 18, 2017, Accepted December 11, 2017

13

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14 Onolragchaa Ganbold･Gi-Chang Bing･In-Hwan Paik･Erdenetushig Purevee･Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar･Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan･Woon Kee Paek Kor. J. Orni. Vol. 24.

We initiated this study to examine the occurrence, migration, and population sizes of species in Mongol
Daguur that are considered Globally Threatened by the IUCN (2017). Another joint Mongolian and Korean
project studied Swan Goose’s (Anser cygnoides) migration using satellite transmitters in 2006 (Batbayar
et al. 2006), and a Russian scientist conducted surveys on Swan Goose populations in the early 2000s
(Goroshko 2003, 2004) in Mongol Daguur IBA. Previously, foreign scientists, especially Russians (including
those from the former Soviet Union) conducted basic studies on Mongolian fauna and flora during the
19th and 20th Centuries (Adiya & Suran 2008). That previous work included research into the fauna along
the Mongolian-Soviet border area (focused on Mongol Daguur) which was conducted by the Soviet Union’s
Institute of Geography, and historical biological Mongolian-German expeditions (between 1962 and 1964)
and Mongolian-Russian expeditions (since 1970) that studied most of Mongolian Fauna and Flora (Adiya
& Suran 2008). Since the middle of the 20th Century, Mongolian Researchers rapidly increased the amount
of research into their country’s fauna and flora (Adiya & Suran 2008). All of these previous studies were
focused on all fauna of the area including birds or focused on one/group of particular bird/s without mention
for all avifauna of the our study area. Hence, we could conclude that there is still a need conduct more
survey for this IBAs avifauna to improve understanding of current area’s importance for migratory birds.
We believe that our study could contribute to improvement of understanding of Mongol Daguur IBA’
importance. Our work also will provide important information about the avifauna in the study area.
The objectives of this study were (a) to assess the avifaunal diversity variation among covered wetland
habitats in middle Mongolia, and (b) to identify threats that might endanger the avifauna at the these wetlands.
The Important Bird Areas (IBA) network of Birdlife International is a global initiative aimed at identifying
and protecting a network of critical sites for the conservation of the world’s birds (Fishpool and Evans
2001). To date, a total of 70 IBAs have been identified in Mongolia, covering a total area of 7,906,557
ha or 5% of the national land area, of which 44 were wetlands. Each of these sites meets one or more
of the global IBA criteria developed by the Birdlife Partnership (Batbayar et al. 2009).

Materials and methods

1. Study area
Our study area included a Strictly Protected Area (SPA) established in 1992 (Oyungerel 2004; Myagmarsuren
2007), the area adjacent to the Important Bird Area (IBA) in 2009 (Batbayar et al. 2009), and the region
between the IBA and SPA. About 20% of the IBA is protected within the SPA. The Mongol Daguur
region is a vast, temperate, grassland steppe with low mountains and rolling hills. It contains several small
and medium-sized lakes and wetlands. Nomadic herders and their livestock inhabit the area. Most lakes
in the region are fed by rainwater; only a few are fed by running rivers and streams. The lake and the
wetland steppe landscape extends north into neighboring Russia and east into China. This border region
of the three countries is an important area for the Swan Goose and many other wetland-dependent species
in northeast Asia (Batbayar et al. 2011).
The IBA site includes ~ 30 lakes that classified as slightly or moderately mineralized and with permanent

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December 2017 Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia 15

to semi-permanent lakes (Miguel 2006), the largest lakeis Khaichiin Tsagaan (7.5 km2), and followed by
Mongol Tsagaan (7.2 km2) and Galuut lakes (6.5 km2) (Tserensodnom 1990). Our study area is the lowest
in Mongolia, with an average altitude of around 650 m from sea level, while 1550m for average altitude
for Mongolia (Jambaajamts 1989). The area is characterized by very dry springs and autumns with frequent
rainfall in mid-July, and by low snow coverage in winter (Jambaajamts 1989). In addition, a small amount
of land is cultivated, with a more extensive area of cultivation now abandoned. The density of human
settlement is low, but higher near lakes and river valleys (Batbayar et al. 2009).

2. Methods
We collected data within the Mongol Daguur Important Bird Area in May, July, and September of 2016.
Nineteen sampling points were used at 13 lakes in May, while 13 sampling points at 10 lakes in July,
and 10 sampling points at 8 lakes in September (Fig. 3). The numbers of sampling point for single lake
were varied between lakes, it was depend on lake size, maximum 3 points were covered at Chukh and
Galuut lakes, while other lakes covered by one sampling point observation.Each month included an observation
period of 3 days (9 days total). Our surveys covered 13 lakes of Mongol Daguur IBA (IBA: MNO66).
In addition to species, we recorded threats at each site
We used binoculars (10x42), a spotting scope (Nikon Vision Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan), and photographs
from a digital camera and 400mm (Canon Inc., Tokyo,Japan) lens to identify the species and count the
number of individuals. We recorded the bird locations and other key sites using a handheld global positioning
system (GPS) and incorporated that information into ArcGIS 9.3.
Shannon Diversity Index (Shannon & Weaver 1963) was calculated using the following equation:

 ′  ∑    × ln 

Where, Pi = the proportion of individuals of species i relative to the total number of individuals present)
and S = the number of species encountered. We then calculated Shannon’s equitability (EH) as follows:

  max  ln 

where, H = Shannon Diversity and S = the number of species encountered. Its value ranges between
0 and 1, with 1 being complete evenness.
The relative diversity (RDi) of orders was calculated using the following formula:

RDi = number of bird species in an order/total number of species × 100

We used Sorenson’s Coefficient (Sorenson, 1948) and Jaccard’s Coefficient (Jaccard, 1901) to calculate
the similarity of the bird communities as follows:

Sorenson’s Coefficient: (CC) = 2C / S1+S2

where, C = the number of species that the two communities have in common, S1 is the total number

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16 Onolragchaa Ganbold･Gi-Chang Bing･In-Hwan Paik･Erdenetushig Purevee･Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar･Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan･Woon Kee Paek Kor. J. Orni. Vol. 24.

of species found in community 1, and S2 is the number of species found in community 2.

Jaccard’s Coefficient: SAB = A∩B/ A∪B

Where, SAB is Jaccard’s Coefficient, A ∩ B is the number of species that both communities have in
common and A Ư B is the number of species in only A or B communities.

Results

We recorded 114 species during our three visits to the Mongol Daguur Important Bird Area in 2016
that equals 23% of the Mongolian Avifauna. During each visit, we observed different numbers of species
and individuals: 6,305 individuals of 111 species and 13 orders in May, 6,757 individuals of 65 species
and 11 orders in July, and 7,308 individuals of 90 species and 12 orders in September (Fig. 1). The orders
of Charadriiformes and Passeriformes were dominated among recorded avifaunal 12 orders (Table 1), while
Anseriformes and Charadriiformes were accounted for 92.1% of total 20,370 counted birds. The dominant
species observed in May and July were Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) (1,285 and 693 individuals,
respectively) and Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) (446 and 677 individuals, respectively), while Common
Shelduck (1,490 individuals) and Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) (1,236 individuals) were the dominant
species in September (see Table 2 for dominant species).
A total of 10 globally threatened and 3 near-threatened species were recorded during the survey (Table 3).
Common Pochard was most numerous and most frequently sighted of the threatened species with 2,161
individuals with (within 16 groups). Followed by Swan Geese with 643 individuals (within 19 groups)
(Table 2). The largest groups of Swan Geese were recorded at Busiin Lake with 253 and 244 individuals
(including young chicks) in July and September, respectively, and 153 Geese in Doroo Lake in May.

Table 1. Relative diversity (RDi) of various avifaunal orders at the Mongol Daguur IBA site, 2017.
Orders No.of species RDi
PODICIPEDIFORMES 3 2.6
PELECANIFORMES 4 3.5
ANSERIFORMES 19 16.7
FALCONIFORMES 16 14.0
GALLIFORMES 2 1.8
GRUIFORMES 10 8.8
CHARADRIIFORMES 27 23.7
COLUMBIFORMES 1 0.9
STRIGIFORMES 3 2.6
APODIFORMES 2 1.8
CORACIIFORMES 1 0.9
PASSERIFORMES 26 22.8
Total 114 100

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December 2017 Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia 17

Fig. 1. Percentage of each order of birds observed in our study, Mongol Daguur IBA, 2016.

Table 2. Observed dominant species in our survey.

Scientific name English name Total Individual Dom (%) Observed frequency Observed period
Tringa nebularia Common Greenshank 204 0.9 15 M/J/S
Cygnus cygnus Whooper Swan 221 1.0 14 M/J/S
Calidris ruficollis Red-necked Stint 235 1.1 6 M/J
Aythya fuligula Tufted Duck 262 1.2 10 M/J/S
Tringa totanus Common Redshank 294 1.3 18 M/J/S
Tringa erythropus Spotted Redshank 307 1.4 13 M/J/S
Limosa limosa Black-tailed Godwit 345 1.6 8 M/J/S
Anas clypeata Northern Shoveler 353 1.7 17 M/J/S
Larus mongolicus Mongolian Gull 359 1.7 18 M/J/S
Bucephala clangula Common Goldeneye 380 1.8 10 M/J/S
Anas strepera Gadwall 410 2.0 15 M/J/S
Anas platyrhynchos Mallard 432 2.1 10 M/J/S
Anas penelope Eurasian Wigeon 444 2.2 13 M/S
Actitis hypoleucos Common Sandpiper 456 2.4 22 M/J/S
Anas crecca Eurasian Teal 525 2.8 15 M/S
Fulica atra Common Coot 587 2.9 10 J/S
Vanellus vanellus Northern Lapwing 605 3.0 17 M/J/S
Anser cygnoides Swan Goose 643 3.1 20 M/J/S
Pecurvirostra avosetta Pied Avocet 1,189 6.6 21 M/J/S
Tadorna ferruginea Ruddy Shelduck 1,190 5.8 17 M/J/S
Aythya ferina Common Pochard 2,161 10.6 16 M/J/S
Tadorna tadorna Common Shelduck 3,452 16.9 33 M/J/S
M = May; J = July; S = September; Dominance (Dom %) was calculated based on the number of entire
individuals that appeared in each site examined (McNaughton, 1967).
Dom (%)=(ni/N)×100; where, N: the number of entire species’ individuals, ni: the number of special species’
individuals.

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18 Onolragchaa Ganbold･Gi-Chang Bing･In-Hwan Paik･Erdenetushig Purevee･Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar･Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan･Woon Kee Paek Kor. J. Orni. Vol. 24.

Table 3. Observed Globally Threatened species in Mongol Daguur IBA, Eastern Mongolia.
Counted bird IUCN Global status
Scient.ific name English name OF
Mean (±SD) IUCN Redlist
Grus leucogeranus Siberian Crane 1 1±0.0 Critically endangered
Aquila nipalensis Steppe Eagle 11 1.5±1.2 Endangered
Grus japonensis Red-Crowed Crane 1 1±0.0 Endangered
Falco cherrug Saker Falcon 7 1±0.0 Endangered
Aythya ferina Common Pochard 16 102±35.5 Vulnerable
Anser cygnoides Swan Goose 19 33.8±54.1 Vulnerable
Haliaeetus leucoryphus Pallas's Fish-Eagle 1 1±0.0 Vulnerable
Otis tarda Great Bustard 2 1.5±0.7 Vulnerable
Grus monacha Hooded Crane 3 1.3±0.5 Vulnerable
Grus vipio White-naped Crane 7 3.1±1.5 Vulnerable
Haliaeetus albicilla White-tailed Eagle 5 1.2±0.4 Near-threatened
Aegypius monachus Cinereous Vulture 7 1.7±0.9 Near-threatened
Limnodromus semipalmatus Asian Dowitcher 5 10.2±10.6 Near-threatened
OF=Observed frequency; IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature. All of these threatened
species are listed in CMS (Conservation for Migratory Species) and 7 out of 12 species are listed in
Mongolian Redbook (Shiirewdamba 2013).

Each lake contained different bird communities and a number of species (Fig. 2, Table 5). The number
of species and the size of the bird community depended on the size of the lake (p value 0.0019 and 0.0017,
respectively) as well as depth . The four largest lakes, Chukh (2.6 km2), Galuut (6.5 km2), Ikh Dalai (2.2
km2) and Khaichiin Tsagaan lakes (7.5 km2) (Tserensodnom 1990, 2000), supported the largest bird communities
and the highest number of species (Fig. 2, Table 5).

Fig. 2. Studied lakes with the chart of the counted total individuals; the chart size depends on the observed
number of individuals and each chart represent research points (Quantitative information defined in Table 3).

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December 2017 Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia 19

The overall diversity of our study area was EH = 0.68, with diversity varying by month (EH: May =
0.74, July = 0.63 and September = 0.67). Diversity at the individual lakes ranged from 0.48 to 0.84 (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Diversities of studied lakes in Mongol Daguur, 2016. The diversity value ranges between 0 and 1, there
being complete evenness. High diversity community is close to 1.

Jaccard’s (SAB) and Sorenson’s (CC) similarity coefficients ranged from 0.53 to 0.74 and from 0.69 to
0.85, respectively, between seasons. These coefficients demonstrated that the bird communities were moderately
to strongly similar between sampling periods. We recorded the highest similarity (Jaccard = 0.74 and Sorenson
= 0.85) between the bird communities in May and September (Table 4).

Table 4. Variation of the Sorenson and the Jaccard coefficients of similarity between the three main surveys
on the bird communities.
Jaccard’s similarity coefficient SAB
Time Period
May July September
May 1 0.53 0.74
July 0.69 1 0.59
September 0.85 0.75 1
Sorenson similarity coefficient CC
Sorenson’s coefficient gives a value between 0 and 1. The closer the value is to 1, the more the communities have
in common. Complete community overlap is equal to 1; complete community dissimilarity is equal to 0.

All lakes except Chukh Lake (2.6 km2) showed a drying trend during our study (Table 5). We found
three dried out lakes (Biluut, Suujiin tsagaan, Dungiin) out of a total of 13 lakes (23.1%). We also found
four mining sites during our study, with two located inside the IBA (Avdartolgoi and Nomt, both exploring
for molybdenum). We recorded 25 mining site licenses surrounding the IBA site (Fig. 4). Alternatively,

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20 Onolragchaa Ganbold･Gi-Chang Bing･In-Hwan Paik･Erdenetushig Purevee･Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar･Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan･Woon Kee Paek Kor. J. Orni. Vol. 24.

we noted few impacts from livestock, steppe fires, and utility lines during the surveys. Four nomadic herder
families lived near the lakes and wetlands (at 200 – 5000 m away) and we counted 620 livestock, consisting
of 55 horses, 250 sheep, 240 goats and 75 cows (within 5,000 m of the lakes). We observed most (80%
– 90%) of these livestock in the July survey.

Table 5. Observed species and their individual number by lakes separated in months.
May survey July survey September survey % of drying
Lakes
NS NI NS NI NS NI status
Galuut Lake 84 914 57 1,297 51 2,186 25
Busiin Lake 78 956 55 1,033 47 669 40
Biluut Lake 3 11 NC NC NC NC 100
Davsan Lake 29 90 23 219 NC NC 95
Suiliin tsagaan Lake 1 4 NC NC NC NC 100
Agiin tsagaan Lake 12 86 6 23 NC NC 85
Baga Dalai Lake 40 428 22 296 30 263 35
Ikh Dalai Lake 74 1,454 62 753 45 522 25
Khaichiin tsagaan 72 900 63 721 37 919 20
DavsanTsagaan Lake 7 633 43 828 NC NC 25
Chukh Lake 70 627 51 1,215 45 2,331 Normal
Dungiin Lake 1 4 NC NC NC NC 100
Doroo Lake 46 202 55 372 33 418 55
NC= No survey as the lakes already dried out in July and September; NS= Number of Species; NI= Number
of Individuals; % of drying status taken by September.

Fig. 4. Mining sites and Important Bird Area only in Mongol Daguur example.

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December 2017 Avifauna of Mongol Daguur important bird area in Eastern Mongolia 21

Discussion

Before the 1990s, 90% of the biological expeditions occurred in western and central Mongolia. Since
1990s, researchers and organizations have paid more attention to eastern Mongolia (Batbayar et al. 2006).
We believe our study represents the first to cover the entire Mongol Daguur IBA site.
Little published information exists about the avifauna of eastern Mongolia as most focused on the Swan
Geese. In previous studies, Goroshko (2003, 2004) counted 4,153 Swan Geese from four lakes, and Batbayar
et al. (2006) tallied 1,959 Swan Geese from three lakes. Alternatively, we counted only 643 Swan Geese
from five lakes. We believe that the drop in the number of the Swan Goose is the result of lake evaporation.
The Swan Goose is one of the most vulnerable goose species in East Asia because it often nests in densely
populated and easily accessible floodplains, and due to intensive and uncontrolled hunting on its wintering
grounds (Poyarkov 2006). Mongol Daguur IBA supports the largest population of Swan Goose (Batbayar
et al. 2011). Previously, Goroshko (2003, 2004) counted 215 and 2,016 geese at Galuut Lake, 301 and
457 geese at Busiin Lake, and 1,164 geese at Khaichiin Tsagaan Lake in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
In 2006, Batbayar (2006) reported 564 Swan Geese at Khaichiin Tsagaan Lake, 755 geese at Doroo Lake,
and 640 geese at Busiin Lake in 2006 (Batbayar et al. 2006). Moreover, 643 individuals Swan Geese
were recorded in this study.
These lakes had extremely low water levels in May and no water in July and September. The Ministry
of Environment and Green Development (2014) reported a rapid drying out of lakes all over Mongolia
during the past 16 years (1996-2011). Similarly, Batbayar et al. (2006) reported finding that 11 of the
total 62 lakes (18.1%) had dried out completely in eastern Mongolia, while 3 dried lakes were found in
this stusy. Potential reasons for the loss of lakes include global warming (e.g., over the last 75 years,
average soil temperature increased by 2.1 ˚C and average precipitation decreased by 7%; Ministry of Environment
and Green Development 2014) and uncontrolled use of lakes and wetlands for livestock, mining and fire
suppression.
We observed no direct effects from high density livestock, steppe fire, or utility lines within the study
area; however, Batbayar et al. (2009) reported that,
“The greatest threat to biodiversity at the Mongol Daguur IBA is steppe fires, which mainly originate
from Russia. Steppe fires occur every year and cover very large areas. In 2000, the whole of Mongol
Daguur area was burnt by a fire that started from Russia. The impact of livestock grazing and disturbance
is increasing at important nesting areas due to a lack of management.”
Furthermore, Elbegjargal et al. (2016) reported that steppe fires have become a real threat to biodiversity
and humans, contributing to mortality. They also considered the steppe fires to be natural disasters that
frequently occur in every dry season. The number of livestock is not a high threat because eastern Mongolia
has some of the lowest densities of livestock and numbers of herders in the country (Report of Ministry
of Food and Agriculture, 2015). However, the sizes of lakes continued decreasing as the year progressed
(as reported by local herders). Biluut, Davsan, Suujiin Tsagaan and Dungiin Lakes dried from May to
September, with no water left by September.

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22 Onolragchaa Ganbold･Gi-Chang Bing･In-Hwan Paik･Erdenetushig Purevee･Munkhbaatar Munkhbayar･Ariunbold Jargalsaikhan･Woon Kee Paek Kor. J. Orni. Vol. 24.

The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) considers the Mongol Daguur grassland to be one of the 200
most biologically outstanding ecoregions in the world based on its species richness, species endemism,
unique higher taxa, unusual ecological or evolutionary phenomena, and global rarity of major habitat types
(David et al. 2000). Furthermore, Batbayar et al. (2011) reported that Northeastern Mongolia (including
Mongol Daguur) hosts the majority of the world’s population of Swan Goose. And Mongol Daguur is
the only place in which one can see six species of cranes together in Mongolia (Batbayar et al. 2009).
In this study, we recorded 12 threatened species and all 6 species of cranes (including 5 species of cranes
at Galuut Lake in May). These data indicate the significance of the study area.

Acknowledgements

This study funded by establishment of National Biodiversity Information Network, Integrated Database
System and its Management (2017M3A9A5048999) and the National Science Museum of Korea. We thank
professors and research students of the Mongolian National University of Education who helped with field
research, including Munkhzul, Namsrai and Solongo; driver Amgaa; and the local herders who provided
us with historical information during the survey.

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