After protection from hunting on the wintering range in 1982/83, complete surveys of Greenland white‐fronted geese at all known Irish and British wintering resorts have been carried out annually. These showed that this population... more
After protection from hunting on the wintering range in 1982/83, complete surveys of Greenland white‐fronted geese at all known Irish and British wintering resorts have been carried out annually. These showed that this population increased by 5.0% per annum from 16,541 in spring 1983 to 30,459 in spring 1995, characterised by a 6.6% annual increase during 1982/83–1991/92, followed by a less rapid increase in subsequent years. In addition, regular counts of at least eight wintering flocks also exist prior to 1982/83. Five of these (including the two most important, Islay in Scotland and Wexford in Ireland) showed no trend before protection, but significant increases after legislation. Two other flocks at protected sites showed increasing numbers prior to changes in legislation, followed by stable numbers afterwards and the eighth flock increased in number before and after protection. On Islay, a significant increase in crude adult annual survival rate (based on census data) occurred ...
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We analysed annual changes in abundance of Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) derived from mid-winter International Waterbird Census data throughout its northwest European flyway since 1988 using log-linear Poisson regression modelling.... more
We analysed annual changes in abundance of Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) derived from mid-winter International Waterbird Census data throughout its northwest European flyway since 1988 using log-linear Poisson regression modelling. Increases in abundance in the north and east of the wintering range (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland), stable numbers in the central range (Belgium, Netherlands, UK and France) and declining abundance in the west and south of the wintering range (Spain and Ireland) suggest a shift in wintering distribution consistent with milder winters throughout the range. However, because over 75% of the population of over 1 million individuals winters in Belgium, the Netherlands, UK and France, there was no evidence for a major movement in the centre of gravity of the wintering distribution. Between-winter changes in overall flyway abundance were highly significantly positively correlated (P = 0.003) with reproductive success measured by age ratios in ...
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AimSpecies are responding to climate change by changing their distributions, creating debate about the effectiveness of existing networks of protected areas. As a contribution to this debate, we assess whether regional winter abundances... more
AimSpecies are responding to climate change by changing their distributions, creating debate about the effectiveness of existing networks of protected areas. As a contribution to this debate, we assess whether regional winter abundances and distribution of the Smew Mergellus albellus, a migratory waterbird species listed on Annex I (EU Birds Directive) that overwinters exclusively in European wetlands, changed during 1990–2011, the role of global warming in driving distributional changes and the effectiveness of the network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs, EU Birds Directive) in the context of climate change.LocationEurope.MethodsWe used site‐specific counts (6,883 sites) from 16 countries covering the entire flyway to estimate annual abundance indices and trends at country, region (north‐eastern, central and south‐western) and flyway scales, inside and outside SPAs. We fitted autoregressive models to assess the effect of winter temperature on the annual abundance indices whilst a...
Research Interests: Geography, Ornithology, Climate Change, Wetlands, Conservation Biology, and 15 moreConservation, Climate Change Adaptation, Species Distribution Models, Climate change policy, Baltic Sea Region Studies, Environment and natural resources conservation, Ecology, Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation Strategies, Protected areas, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Waterbirds, Waterfowl management, Natura, and Protected Areas
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Research Interests: Zoology, Microscopy, Biology, Phthiraptera, Medicine, and 6 moreMongolia, Animals, Geese, Lice Infestations, GOOSE, and Bird diseases
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Approximately 75% of the East Asian Flyway Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii population winters in the Yangtze River floodplain, China. Historically the species was more widely distributed throughout the floodplain but now most of... more
Approximately 75% of the East Asian Flyway Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii population winters in the Yangtze River floodplain, China. Historically the species was more widely distributed throughout the floodplain but now most of the population is confined to five wetlands in Anhui Province and to Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, where the majority (up to 113,000 birds) occur. Within-winter counts suggest that swans congregate at Poyang Lake before dispersing to other sites later in the winter. Counts show large between-year fluctuations, but suggest declines at Shengjin and Fengsha Lakes (both in Anhui) during the last five years. Declines at Shengjin Lake are likely due to decreases in submerged vegetation (particularly tuber-producing Vallisneria, a major food item) perhaps linked to eutrophication. Range contractions throughout the floodplain may also be linked to reductions in submerged vegetation coverage elsewhere. Changes in water quality and lake hydrology post-Three...
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Eurasian migratory duck species represent a natural resource shared between European countries. As is evident throughout human harvest history, lack of coordinated management and monitoring at appropriate levels often leads to ‘the... more
Eurasian migratory duck species represent a natural resource shared between European countries. As is evident throughout human harvest history, lack of coordinated management and monitoring at appropriate levels often leads to ‘the tragedy of the commons’, where shared populations suffer overexploitation. Effective management can also be hampered by poor understanding of the factors that limit and regulate migratory populations throughout their flyways, and over time. Following decades of population increase, some European duck populations now show signs of levelling off or even decline, underlining the need for more active and effective management. In Europe, the existing mechanisms for delivering effective management of duck populations are limited, despite the need and enthusiasm for establishing adaptive management (AM) schemes for wildlife populations. Existing international legal agreements already oblige European countries to sustainably manage migratory waterbirds. Although ...
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Autumn postnuptial migration is critical in the dabbling duck annual cycle, when first-year birds in particular suffer high losses to natural and hunting mortality. Mortality rates in this age-class are generally unknown in Europe where... more
Autumn postnuptial migration is critical in the dabbling duck annual cycle, when first-year birds in particular suffer high losses to natural and hunting mortality. Mortality rates in this age-class are generally unknown in Europe where winter ringing predominates. We used data from large-scale wing collections from hunters in Finland, Denmark and France to test the prediction that juvenile proportions among
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Numbers of Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris pairs breeding successfully have been falling since the 1980s, markedly so since the mid-1990s. The latter change coincides with a switch in the Atlantic Multidecadal... more
Numbers of Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris pairs breeding successfully have been falling since the 1980s, markedly so since the mid-1990s. The latter change coincides with a switch in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, associated with increased spring ...
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SB Spring abdominal profiles of white-fronted geese geese are likely to appear fatter (based on the visual assessment of abdominal fat stores by Owen 1981) before their departure from Ireland than on their arrival in Iceland, and to... more
SB Spring abdominal profiles of white-fronted geese geese are likely to appear fatter (based on the visual assessment of abdominal fat stores by Owen 1981) before their departure from Ireland than on their arrival in Iceland, and to fatten again before they move on. We aimed ...
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To predict future changes in wintering dabbling duck (Anas sp.) distributions in response to climate change, it is necessary to understand their response to temperature at a continental scale. Food accessibility, competition and... more
To predict future changes in wintering dabbling duck (Anas sp.) distributions in response to climate change, it is necessary to understand their response to temperature at a continental scale. Food accessibility, competition and thermoregulatory costs are likely to play a major role in determining the wintering distribution of short‐ to medium‐distance migratory bird species and in determining how this distribution varies between years. As avian thermoregulatory costs scale allometrically with body size, it would be expected that the mean mid‐winter temperature experienced by six species of dabbling ducks wintering in Western Europe would be negatively correlated with body mass. We found no clear evidence for such a relationship in a large‐scale analysis, nor were there relationships between weighted mean latitude and longitude and mean January temperature experienced by each species. These results suggest that temperature is less important in shaping mid‐winter duck distributions t...
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While wild goose populations wintering in North America and Europe are mostly flourishing by exploiting farmland, those in China (which seem confined to natural wetlands) are generally declining. Telemetry devices were attached to 67... more
While wild goose populations wintering in North America and Europe are mostly flourishing by exploiting farmland, those in China (which seem confined to natural wetlands) are generally declining. Telemetry devices were attached to 67 wintering wild geese of five different species at three important wetlands in the Yangtze River Floodplain (YRF), China to determine habitat use. 50 individuals of three declining species were almost entirely diurnally confined to natural wetlands; 17 individuals from two species showing stable trends used wetlands 83% and 90% of the time, otherwise resorting to farmland. These results confirm earlier studies linking declines among Chinese wintering geese to natural habitat loss and degradation affecting food supply. These results also contribute to explaining the poor conservation status of Chinese wintering geese compared to the same and other goose species wintering in adjacent Korea and Japan, western Europe and North America, which feed almost enti...
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We here review the collision risks posed by large-bodied, flocking geese to aircraft, exacerbated by recent major increases in northern hemisphere goose populations and air traffic volume. Mitigation of goose-aircraft strike risks... more
We here review the collision risks posed by large-bodied, flocking geese to aircraft, exacerbated by recent major increases in northern hemisphere goose populations and air traffic volume. Mitigation of goose-aircraft strike risks requires knowledge of local goose movements, global goose population dynamics and ecology. Airports can minimise goose strikes by managing habitats within the airport property, applying deterrents to scare geese away and lethal control, but goose migration and movements at greater spatial scales present greater challenges. Habitat management outside of airports can locally reduce goose attractiveness of peripheral areas, but requires stakeholder involvement and coordination. Information on bird strike rates, individual goose movements and goose population dynamics is essential to understand how best to reduce the risk of goose strikes. Avian radar provides tactical information for mitigation measures and strategic data on local patterns of goose migration ...
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This paper reviews factors affecting site selection amongst waterfowl (Anatidae) during the flightless remigial moult, emphasising the roles of predation and food supply (especially protein and energy). The current literature suggests... more
This paper reviews factors affecting site selection amongst waterfowl (Anatidae) during the flightless remigial moult, emphasising the roles of predation and food supply (especially protein and energy). The current literature suggests survival during flightless moult is at least as high as at other times of the annual cycle, but documented cases of predation of flightless waterfowl under particular conditions lead us to infer that habitat selection is generally highly effective in mitigating or avoiding predation. High energetic costs of feather replacement and specific amino-acid requirements for their construction imply adoption of special energetic and nutritional strategies at a time when flightlessness limits movements. Some waterfowl meet their energy needs from endogenous stores accumulated prior to remigial moult, others rely on exogenous supply, but this varies with species, age, reproductive status and site. Limited evidence suggests feather proteins are derived from endog...
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Assessing the Arctic The Arctic is experiencing some of the most rapid climate change currently under way across the globe, but consequent ecological responses have not been widely reported. At the close of the Fourth International Polar... more
Assessing the Arctic The Arctic is experiencing some of the most rapid climate change currently under way across the globe, but consequent ecological responses have not been widely reported. At the close of the Fourth International Polar Year, Post et al. (p. 1355 ) review observations on ecological impacts in this sensitive region. The widespread changes occurring in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems, presage changes at lower latitudes that will affect natural resources, food production, and future climate buffering.
Research Interests: Geography, Environmental Science, Climate Change, Population Dynamics, Medicine, and 15 moreMultidisciplinary, Arctic, Animals, Greenhouse Effect, Ecosystem, Ecosystem service, Natural Resource, Plant Development, On, Food Products, International Polar Year, Landscape Heterogeneity, Ecological Dynamics, Cold climate, and Climate changing
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We estimated the size of 30 defined populations of geese wintering in the Western Palearctic (including five released or reintroduced populations of three species). Fourteen populations were accurately estimated from almost full count... more
We estimated the size of 30 defined populations of geese wintering in the Western Palearctic (including five released or reintroduced populations of three species). Fourteen populations were accurately estimated from almost full count coverage or robust sampling and ten were well estimated based on more than 50% of their total being counted. An estimated 5.03 million geese wintered in January 2009, up on 3.10 million in January 1993. Only two populations numbered less than 10,000 birds (Scandinavian Lesser White-fronted Goose and Svalbard/Greenland Light-bellied Brent Goose, the former being critically small within restricted range). Eighteen populations numbered 10,000–100,000, eight 100,000–1,000,000 and the largest 1.2 million individuals. Of 21 populations with known longer term trends, 16 are showing significant exponential increases, 4 are stable and one declining. Amongst these same populations, five are declining since the 1990s. Long term declines in productivity were found...
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Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite telemetry was used to determine the foraging range, habitat use and minimum flight distances for individual East Atlantic Light-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla hrota at two spring staging... more
Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite telemetry was used to determine the foraging range, habitat use and minimum flight distances for individual East Atlantic Light-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla hrota at two spring staging areas in Denmark. Foraging ranges (mean ± s.d. = 53.0 ± 23.4 km 2) were comparatively large, greater than reported elsewhere for this species, and habitat use revealed a high exploitation of salt marshes (64.4%), which now replace traditional fjord habitats as the most important for spring-fattening. At one site (Agerø), geese had started to exploit agricultural fields (winter-sown cereals; 11.8% of the total GPS location data), and in all areas fjords were still frequently used for roosting at night. Minimum flight distances for foraging excursions at the staging sites varied considerably between individual geese (ranging from 4.64-10.14 km/day), and these were related to differences in habitat use. Geese using a high proportion of agricultural areas f...
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Additional file 1. Table S1. Details of the individually tracked dabbling ducks contributing to this study, their logger types, release site and nature of data collection. Table S2. List of best selected generalized linear models, based... more
Additional file 1. Table S1. Details of the individually tracked dabbling ducks contributing to this study, their logger types, release site and nature of data collection. Table S2. List of best selected generalized linear models, based on Akaike information criteria, assessing the duration of stay for each of three dabbling duck species in relation to (a) the total inundation area of the lake which the birds were using, and (b) the area of water at the lake in mid-winter. Table S3. List of best selected generalized linear models, based on Akaike information criteria, assessing the daily mean distances flown by each of three dabbling duck species in relation to (a) the total inundation area of the lake which the birds were using, and (b) the area of water at the lake in mid-winter. Table S4. Summary of the percentage of position fixes assigned to different land-use types of individuals generated devices fitted to individuals of three different dabbling duck species (segregated into ...
Digitised vertical aerial photography was used to investigate the instantaneous distributional patterns of Lesser Flamingos Phoeniconaias minor at Kamfers Dam, South Africa. Image processing software was applied to differentiate high and... more
Digitised vertical aerial photography was used to investigate the instantaneous distributional patterns of Lesser Flamingos Phoeniconaias minor at Kamfers Dam, South Africa. Image processing software was applied to differentiate high and low density flocks, based on earlier work, suggesting formation of dense aggregations in response to food abundance (in this case, the cyanobacteria Arthrospira fusiformis). Ripley's K analysis showed a regular arrangement of individuals in the densest flocks, potentially reducing interference without cost to foraging efficiency in highest food concentrations. Where inter-bird distances exceeded 0.70 m (s.d. ± 0.06 m, 95% C.I.), flamingos were arranged irregularly and showed clustered distributions. Flamingos aggregated to forage in the densest flocks in shallow waters, but imagery showed that the birds always maintained a consistent distance from mainland shorelines, whereas on an isolated artificial island they showed no such avoidance pattern...
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Twelve migratory and native goose populations winter in Britain and Ireland and up to date information on their abundance and distribution is provided. Seven populations are increasing: Barnacle Goose (Svalbard, current estimate 26,900... more
Twelve migratory and native goose populations winter in Britain and Ireland and up to date information on their abundance and distribution is provided. Seven populations are increasing: Barnacle Goose (Svalbard, current estimate 26,900 birds), Barnacle Goose (Greenland 70,500), Pink-footed Goose (288,800), North West Scotland Greylag Goose (34,500), re-established Greylag Goose (50,000), Light-bellied Brent Goose (East Canadian High Arctic 34,000) and Light-bellied Brent Goose (Svalbard 3,270). Two populations appear stable: Taiga Bean Goose (432 at two sites) and Icelandic Greylag Goose (98,300). Three populations are decreasing: European White-fronted Goose (2,760) due to short stopping in mainland Europe, Dark-bellied Brent Goose (82,970), due to a recent population decline (due to poor breeding success) and short stopping, and Greenland White-fronted Goose (24,055) due to recent poor breeding success and, up to 2006, hunting. An estimated 120,000 migratory geese wintered in Brit...
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The demography of many European waterbirds is not well understood because most countries have conducted little monitoring and assessment, and coordination among countries on waterbird management has little precedent. Yet intergovernmental... more
The demography of many European waterbirds is not well understood because most countries have conducted little monitoring and assessment, and coordination among countries on waterbird management has little precedent. Yet intergovernmental treaties now mandate the use of sustainable, adaptive harvest strategies, whose development is challenged by a paucity of demographic information. In this study, we explore how a combination of allometric relationships, fragmentary monitoring and research information, and expert judgment can be used to estimate the parameters of a theta-logistic population model, which in turn can be used in a Markov decision process to derive optimal harvesting strategies. We show how to account for considerable parametric uncertainty, as well as for different management objectives. We illustrate our methodology with a poorly understood population of taiga bean geese (Anser fabalis fabalis), which is a popular game bird in Fennoscandia. Our results for taiga bean ...
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Research Interests: Breeding, Multidisciplinary, Starlings, Animals, Herbivory, and 4 morePLoS one, Ecosystem, Nesting Behavior, and Seasons
As goose populations increase in abundance, their influence on ecological processes is increasing. We review the evidence for key ecological functions of wild goose populations in Eurasia and North America, including aquatic invertebrate... more
As goose populations increase in abundance, their influence on ecological processes is increasing. We review the evidence for key ecological functions of wild goose populations in Eurasia and North America, including aquatic invertebrate and plant propagule transport, nutrient deposition in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the influence of goose populations on vegetation biomass, carbon storage and methane emission, species diversity and disease transmission. To estimate the implications of their growing abundance for humans, we explore how these functions contribute to the provision of ecosystem services and disservices. We assess the weight, extent and trends among such impacts, as well as the balance of their value to society. We examine key unresolved issues to enable a more balanced assessment of the economic costs or benefits of migratory geese along their flyways, including the spatial and temporal variation in services and their contrasting value to different user groups....
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Increasing abundance of geese in North America and Europe constitutes a major conservation success, but has caused increasing conflicts with economic, health and safety interests, as well as ecosystem impacts. Potential conflict... more
Increasing abundance of geese in North America and Europe constitutes a major conservation success, but has caused increasing conflicts with economic, health and safety interests, as well as ecosystem impacts. Potential conflict resolution through a single, 'one size fits all' policy is hindered by differences in species' ecology, behaviour, abundance and population status, and in contrasting political and socio-economic environments across the flyways. Effective goose management requires coordinated application of a suite of tools from the local level to strategic flyway management actions. The European Goose Management Platform, established under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, aims to harmonise and prioritise management, monitoring and conservation efforts, sharing best practice internationally by facilitating agreed policies, coordinating flyway efforts, and sharing and exchanging experiences and information. This depends c...
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Greenland white-fronted geese Anser albifrons flavirostris wintering in Britain and Ireland migrate over the sea for 700–1200 km to stage 3–5 weeks in Iceland in spring, continuing a similar distance over the sea and Greenland Ice Cap to... more
Greenland white-fronted geese Anser albifrons flavirostris wintering in Britain and Ireland migrate over the sea for 700–1200 km to stage 3–5 weeks in Iceland in spring, continuing a similar distance over the sea and Greenland Ice Cap to West Greenland breeding grounds. During 1969 to 2012, the geese advanced the mean departure date from Ireland by 15 days, during which time also they attained threshold fat stores earlier as well as departing in fatter condition. Over that period, Iceland spring-staging geese shifted from consuming underground plant storage organs to grazing managed hayfields, which provide fresh grass growth despite sub-zero temperatures, when traditional natural foods are inaccessible in frozen substrates. In 2012 and 2013, geese arrived three weeks earlier to Iceland, in fatter condition and accumulated fat significantly slower than in 1997–1999 and 2007. Although geese accumulated sufficient fat stores earlier in Iceland in 2007, 2012 and 2013, they departed aro...
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Variation in fitness between individuals in populations may be attributed to differing environmental conditions experienced among birth (or hatch) years (i.e., between cohorts). In this study, we tested whether cohort fitness could also... more
Variation in fitness between individuals in populations may be attributed to differing environmental conditions experienced among birth (or hatch) years (i.e., between cohorts). In this study, we tested whether cohort fitness could also be explained by environmental conditions experienced in years post-hatch, using 736 lifelong resighting histories of Greenland white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons flavirostris) marked in their first winter. Specifically, we tested whether variation in age at first successful reproduction, the size of the first successful brood and the proportion of successful breeders by cohort was explained by environmental conditions experienced on breeding areas in west Greenland during hatch year, those in adulthood prior to successful reproduction and those in the year of successful reproduction, using North Atlantic Oscillation indices as proxies for environmental conditions during these periods. Fifty-nine (8%) of all marked birds reproduced successfully (i.e...
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... In Fox, AD & Stroud, DA (eds) Report of the 1979 Greenland White-fronted Goose Study Expedition to Eq-alungmiut Nunat, West Greenland: 82-102. Aberystwyth:Green-land White-fronted Goose Study. Stroud. DA 1981b. ...
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ABSTRACT The above- and below-ground biomass and fruit production of Vallisneria natans plants were measured in relation to length of the growing season, based on six treatments (April/May/June planting in relation to October/November... more
ABSTRACT The above- and below-ground biomass and fruit production of Vallisneria natans plants were measured in relation to length of the growing season, based on six treatments (April/May/June planting in relation to October/November harvest) in a microcosm experiment. Above- and below-ground biomass generally increased with length of growing season. There were no significant differences between early and late harvest measures for each start date, except for the earliest planting date, where above-ground biomass was significantly less in November compared to October. There were no significant differences in the dry weight production of fruits between any of the treatments, nor in the ratio of unripe to mature fruits produced in each treatment. The biomass of mature fruits and the ratio of mature to unripe fruits were significantly higher (approximately double) amongst November harvested plants compared to October harvested plants across all start dates, suggesting reduced seed production as a result of early harvesting. There was a significant increase in the dry weight of mature fruits with length of growing season. Based on these results, shortening of the inundation periods experienced by Vallisneria natans plants in Yangtze River ephemeral wetlands (more so in autumn than in spring) will reduce annual biomass production, and advances in autumn desiccation date will reduce investment in viable seed production in this submerged macrophyte.
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The 2004 invasion of northern bullfinches into parts of western Europe was the largest on record. It also involved some birds that gave the normal piping call of the species, and others that gave a different 'trumpet'call,... more
The 2004 invasion of northern bullfinches into parts of western Europe was the largest on record. It also involved some birds that gave the normal piping call of the species, and others that gave a different 'trumpet'call, previously unknown to most observers in the invasion ...
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The pre-nestmg feeding t)ehaviour of greylag Anser anser and pmk-footed geese A brachyrhynchus was studied on agricultural land at low altitude in southern Iceland from 10 April to 8 May 1990 Greylag geese were already present on 12 Apnl,... more
The pre-nestmg feeding t)ehaviour of greylag Anser anser and pmk-footed geese A brachyrhynchus was studied on agricultural land at low altitude in southern Iceland from 10 April to 8 May 1990 Greylag geese were already present on 12 Apnl, increased to 4580 birds by 24 Apnl, but ...