Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Bird Conservation International
Volume: 35 , Pages: e1. doi:10.1017/S0959270924000285
DOI: 10.1017/S0959270924000285
Full reference: Solovyeva, D., Lei, J., Tian, H., Fan, R., Vartanyan, S., Danilov, G., Barykina, D., Lu, C. & Lei, G. 2025. New information on the breeding and moulting ecology of the Eastern population of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus from GPS/GSM tracking data. Bird Conservation International 35: e1. doi:10.1017/S0959270924000285 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270924000285
Keywords: China, Russia, moulting site, breeding propensity, site fidelity, nest success, timing of nesting, Olenyok River, Anadyr River, East Siberia
Abstract:
The Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (EPLWFG) Anser erythropus is shared between Russia and China. The summer range of the EPLWFG has been recognised as a continuous area extending from the Olenyok River in the west to the Anadyr River in the east and northwards from 64°N. The aim of this study was to provide information on breeding behaviour; nest-sites, nesting habitats, and time of nesting; nesting success; timing of summer movements including moult migration; moult timing, duration, and moulting habitats; site fidelity; and the effect of human presence. To accomplish this, we combined the results from field surveys with GPS/GSM tracking. A total of 30 summer tracks from 19 individual EPLWFG were analysed. We estimated breeding propensity in 93.8% of adult LWFG, and this factor did not seem to depend on breeding success in the previous season. Reproductive success was 13.3% in all nesting attempts. Non-breeders arrived three-week later and departed a week earlier. The EPLWFG are highly mobile during the summer. The core moulting site for the entire EPLWFG was discovered by this study and is located along the lower reaches of the San-Yuryakh and Kyuanekhtyakh rivers flowing towards the Omulyakhskaya Bay of the East Siberian Sea. The EPLWFG flightless period was 24.8 ± 2.8 days. A part of failured EPLWFG (43.7 %) migrated back to its early summer breeding/staging site after having completed moult. The strong site fidelity (100%) of adult birds to both nesting and moulting sites promotes the formation of local breeding populations, which could be considered conservation units if genetic studies support this differentiation. The EPLWFG selects the remotest and least human-accessible area for their remigial moult, and the main site was discovered with the help of tracking.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Wildfowl
Volume: 74 , Pages: 53-68
Language:
English
Full reference: Solovyeva, D., Rozenfeld, s., Barykina, D., Kirtaev, G., Danilova, V., Meng, F., Cao, L., Lei, G. & Zeng, Q. 2024. Estimated size of the Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus revealed from aerial surveys of key moulting sites. Wildfowl 74: 53-68
Keywords: aerial survey, moulting period, newly-discovered site, population estimate, eastern populatio, China
Abstract:
The Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (EPLWFG) breeds and moults in Russia and the majority winter in China. Intensive surveys of lakes in the Yangtze River floodplain and in Japan estimated the EPLWFG at 6,600 individuals in 2020 compared to 14,000–19,000 in 2016. Waterfowl are easier to count when concentrated in relatively small areas at key times of the year, and the non-breeding and failed breeding elements of the EPLWFG (an estimated 87% of the population) concentrate at remote moulting sites from early July to mid-August during remigial moult. Locations of GPS-tagged EPLWFG (non-breeding birds and failed breeders), which moulted between 25 June and 17 August, recorded during an earlier study, were plotted on maps of the key moulting region, along the San-Yuryakh and Kyuanekhtyakh Rivers which flow into Omulyakhskaya Bay. An aerial survey undertaken in July 2021 aimed to cover as many locations of the tracked individuals as possible, together with Svyatoy Nos Cape and the New Siberian Islands (where the species was also thought to moult), to count the numbers of geese moulting in these areas. Moulting sites on the delta of the Lena River were also surveyed from the air during the EPLWFG moulting periods in 2019 and 2020. Goose groups were photographed and digitally tagged to GPS coordinates, generating a database which included a date/time stamp to the nearest second, coordinates to the nearest 0.000001 degree, and a picture ID. Photographs were processed using Adobe Photoshop V 21.1.3 software. From detection rates in the survey area, we were able to assess the extent of similar habitat elsewhere in the EPLWFG moulting range, to obtain an estimate of the potential total population size. Moulting EPLWFG were found on Bolshoy Lyakhovaskiy Island in the New Siberian Islands, a new site discovered during this study. A total of 9,373 EPLWFG was counted in moulting flocks at all known and newly discovered moulting sites. The extrapolated estimate for the number of non-breeding and failed breeding birds, on taking the expanded area of suitable habitat into account, was of potentially 24,060 geese. Considering that c. 10% of EPLWFG are successful breeders (i.e. remain on their breeding sites and do not join the moulting flocks), we propose that the overall population size could be as high as 26,733 individuals, excluding offspring of the year.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Ecology and Evolution
Volume: 2021;00 , Pages: 1-14.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7310
Language:
English
Full reference: Tian, H., Solovyeva, d., Danilov, G., Vartanyan, S., Wen,L., Lei, J., Lu, C., Bridgewater, P., Lei, G. & Zeng, Q. 2021. Combining modern tracking data and historical records improves understanding of the summer habitats of the Eastern Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. Ecology and Evolution 2021;00: 1-14. https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7310
Keywords: Asia, Arctic, eastern population, GPS tracking, Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus, species distribution modeling, summer range
Abstract:
The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus), smallest of the “gray” geese, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and protected in all range states. There are three populations, with the least studied being the Eastern population, shared between Russia and China. The extreme remoteness of breeding enclaves makes them largely inaccessible to researchers. As a substitute for visitation, remotely tracking birds from wintering grounds allows exploration of their summer range. Over a period of three years, and using highly accurate GPS tracking devices, eleven individuals of A. erythropus were tracked from the key wintering site of China, to summering, and staging sites in northeastern Russia. Data obtained from that tracking, bolstered byground survey and literature records, were used to model the summer distribution of A. erythropus. Although earlier literature describes a patchy summer range, the model suggests a contiguous summer habitat range is possible, although observations to date cannot confirm A. erythropus is present throughout the modeled range. The most suitable habitats are located along the coasts of the Laptev Sea, primarily the Lena Delta, in the Yana-Kolyma Lowland, and smaller lowlands of Chukotka with narrow riparian extensions upstream along major rivers such as the Lena, Indigirka,and Kolyma. The probability of A. erythropus presence is related to areas with altitude less than 500 m with abundant wetlands, especially riparian habitat, and a climate with precipitation of the warmest quarter around 55 mm and mean temperature around 14°C during June-August. Human disturbance also affects site suitability, with a gradual decrease in species presence starting around 160 km from human settlements. Remote tracking of animal species can bridge the knowledge gap required for robust estimation of species distribution patterns in remote areas. Better knowledge of species' distribution is important in understanding the large-scale ecological consequences of rapid global change and establishing conservation management strategies.
Number of results: 3