Portal to the Lesser White-fronted Goose

- by the Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose project

Literature type: Scientific

Journal: Microbiology Open

Volume: 9 , Pages: e1037

DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.1037

Language: English

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Full reference: Liu, G., Gong, Z., & Li, Q. 2020. Variations in gut bacterial communities between lesser white-fronted geese wintering at Caizi and Shengjin lakes in China. Microbiology Open 9: e1037 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.1037

Keywords: 16S rRNA gene, gut bacterial community, variation, China

Abstract:

The avian gut microbiota plays an important role in shaping the health of its host. However, knowledge of gut bacteria in birds lags behind that of other animals. In this study, we investigated the gut bacterial communities of lesser white-fronted geese (Anser erythropus) wintering at Shengjin Lake and Caizi Lake, China, using high-throughput sequencing (Illumina MiSeq). Altogether, 1,053,624 high-quality sequences and 4,405 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were acquired from 30 fecal samples (15 per lake). The OTUs represented eight phyla and 17 classes from the Caizi Lake samples and seven phyla and 16 classes from the Shengjin Lake samples. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla. The spatial distance and the Chao1, Simpson, and Shannon indices showed that the alpha diversity differed significantly between the samples from both lakes. The phylogenetic tree and heatmap analyses showed that all the Caizi Lake samples were clustered together and all the Shengjin Lake samples were clustered together. These findings suggest that diet may be an important driver of gut microbial community structure in the birds from each lake, and the obvious differentiation in their gut microbial structures may indicate that the bacteria are highly sensitive to food sources at both lakes.

Literature type: Scientific

Journal: The Science of the total environment

Volume: 636 , Pages: 30-38

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.247

Language: English

Full reference: Zhang, P., Zou, Y., Xie, Y., Zhang, H., Liu, X., Gao, D., & Yi, F. 2018. Shifts in distribution of herbivorous geese relative to hydrological variation in East Dongting Lake wetland, China. The Science of the total environment 636: 30-38 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.247

Keywords: Hydrological regime, East Dongting Lake, China, distribution dynamic, percentage similarity, NDVI

Abstract:

Studies on distribution dynamics of waterbirds and the relation with hydrological changes are essential components of ecological researches. East Dongting Lake is a Ramsar site and especially important wintering ground for herbivorous geese along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. In this paper, based on annual (2008/09–2016/17) waterbird census data, we investigated the spatial-temporal distributions of three herbivorous goose species (Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus, Bean Goose Anser fabalis, and Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons) within East Dongting Lake, and analyzed their distribution dynamics (denoted by percentage similarity index, PSI) relative to variations in hydrological regime. The results demonstrated that the distribution of the globally vulnerable Lesser White-fronted Geese changed obviously between years, whereas that of Bean Geese was more stable. Greater White-fronted Geese suffered drastic distribution variation during the study period. The PSI of Lesser White-fronted Geese was negatively correlated with between-year difference in water recession time and mean water level in October, whereas no obvious trend was found in Bean Geese. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was applied to detect changes in food resources of the geese, and significant correlations were also found between NDVI and hydrological factors. It was inferred that the variations in hydrological regime affected the annual distribution dynamics of LesserWhite-fronted Geese by changing food conditions; whereas the effect on Bean Geese were not reflected in this study. Species traits may explain the differences in distribution dynamics among the three goose species. It was speculated that Lesser Whitefronted Geese might be more sensitive to habitat change, whereas Bean Geese were more resilient. We suggested that regulating hydrological regime was crucial in management works. Our study could offer scientific information for species conservation in the context of habitat changes in East Dongting Lake wetland and provide potential insights into habitat management in this area.

Literature type: Scientific

Journal: Aquila

Volume: 96-97 , Pages: 11-17.

Language: English

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Full reference: Sterbetz, I. 1990. Variations in the habitat of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus L., 1758) in Hungary. Aquila 96-97: 11-17.

Keywords: habitat

Number of results: 3