Literature type: Thesis
Language: Chinese (Mandarin) (In Chinese with English abstract and legends)
Download:Full reference: Ao, P. 2020. Migration strategies and conservation of two large-bodied Anatidae species in East Asia. , Master thesis, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 105 pp.
Keywords: Satellite tracking, Migration strategy, Land use, Conservation status, China, Yangtze River, Dongting Lake, Poyang Lake, Shengjin Lake
Abstract:
The East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) is the most threatened flyway in the world. China is located in the center of the EAAF where more than one million Anatidae waterbirds winter every year. With the economic development in China, the loss of wetland has resulted in the declining waterfowl diversity and abundance. In order to conserve the waterfowl population and their habitats in China, it is urgent to define the distribution of key species, determine the distribution of key species and obtain the population estimates and historical changes, the location, land use and conservation status of key habitats. Based on satellite tracking, remote sensing data, field survey, ringing resightings, literature review and expert knowledge, we studied the Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus, a common species, and the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus, a global threatened species. The main results are: Satellite tracking, field survey, ringing resightings, literature review and expert knowledge found the East Asian populations of Whooper Swans summered from Yenisei River in the west to Anadyr River in the East, south to the border between China and Mongolia, and wintered in Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Beijing, middle and lower reaches of Yellow River in China, South Korea and Japan. The Whooper Swans that summered in central and western Mongolia, wintered in China; swans that summered in eastern Mongolia, wintered in China and South Korea; and swans that summered in Far East Russia, wintered in Japan. The East Asian population of Whooper Swans was estimated as 57,700, which increased compared to that in 2011 (42,000-47,000 individuals). Eight key wintering sites were found in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Henan and Shandong in China, six in the coastal and inland wetlands in South Korea and 14 in Hokkaido, Miyagi, and Iwate counties in Japan. Satellite tracking, ringing resightings and remote sensing data identified five wintering areas of Whooper Swans that summered in western Mongolia, namely, Xinjiang (12%), Gansu-Qinghai (16%), Henan-Shanxi-Shaanxi (51%), Beijing (2%), Shandong (19%), from west to east. The population growth may be related to the artificial food of two largest wintering areas (Henan-Shanxi-Shaanxi and Shandong). Tracked swans mainly used water in autumn, winter and summer (82% in autumn, 74% in winter and 62% in summer), and cultivated land (64%) in spring. 47% of the GPS fixes were in protected areas in summer, higher than those in winter (35%), spring (0%) and autumn (26%). The mean migration duration in spring was 21 days (range March 1 - April 15), and in autumn it was 14 days (range October 3 - November 13). At the same time, it is found that the conservation proportion in spring was 0. Therefore, it is suggested to strengthen the conservation of important stopover sites of the Whooper Swan in the bend of the Yellow River. The migration speed in spring was slower than that in autumn, due to more stopover sites and longer stopover duration in spring, which does not support the classic migration theory which claims that spring migration should be faster than autumn migration. Satellite tracking, field survey, literature review and expert knowledge found that the East Asian Lesser White-fronted Geese that summered from the Anabas River in the west to the Anadyr River in the east, and to the Far East Taiga in the south, wintered in the middle and lower Yangtze River in China, South Korea and Japan. The East Asian population of Lesser White-fronted Geese was estimated as 4,200, which declined compared to that in 2015 (16,000 individuals). East Dongting Lake in Hunan Province is the most important wintering site for Lesser White-fronted Geese, followed by Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province and Caizi Lake in Anhui Province, and one key wintering site in Miyagi County in Japan. Satellite tracking and remote sensing data found that the major wintering sites of the tracked Lesser White-fronted Geese were Dongting Lake (50%), Poyang Lake (24%) and Shengjin Lake (18%) in China, and they summered in the Arctic tundra of Russia and Far East Taiga. The tracked geese mainly used cultivated land (52% in spring and 45% in autumn), tundra in summer (63%) and wetland (66%) in winter. 87% of the GPS fixes were in protected areas in winter, higher than that in spring (37%), autumn (28%) and summer (7%). The breeding area were located in the less populated Arctic tundra, although the proportion in protected area in summer was low. The Lesser White-fronted Goose was more concentrated in nature reserves during the wintering period, thus the conservation proportion in wintering area is high. Dongting Lake is the largest wintering site. However, its hydrological changes resulted in the decrease of food, degradation of habitats, and might have led to the decrease of population. Therefore, it is suggested to restore and maintain of the natural hydrological process of the wintering habitat of geese. At the same time, the conservation proportion in spring and autumn was relatively low, so it is suggested to strengthen the conserve of Northeast Plain in China, the main stopover sites in spring and autumn. The migration speed of Lesser White-fronted Geese in spring was slower than that in autumn, mainly due to the longer stopover duration in spring, which does not support the classic migration theory. Both the Whooper Swan and the Lesser White-fronted Goose are large-bodied Anatidae waterbirds in EAAF. The overall conservation proportion of the Lesser White-fronted Goose is higher than Whooper Swan, but the number decreased, which may be related to its unique requirement of food and habitat. The Lesser White-fronted Goose was affected by the decrease of food resources caused by the hydrological change of the Yangtze River, while the swan was affected by local conservation measures. Therefore, we suggest conservation strategies for these two species that faced different conservation challenge: the key point for the conservation of the Lesser White-fronted Geese is the restoration and maintenance of the natural hydrological process in the wintering area, and that of the Whooper Swan is to conserve and restore the key natural habitat and reduce the dependence of the swan on artificial food.
Literature type: Red list
Language:
Russian
In Russian.
Full reference: Vinokurov, N.N. 2019. Красная книга Республики Саха (Якутия). Т. 2: Редкие и находящиеся под угрозой исчез- новения виды животных [Red book of the republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Vol.2 Rare and endangered animal species.] , Nauka, 270pp.
Keywords: red list, Yakutia, nesting, Bolshaya Ercha River, Tyung River, Uyandina River, Muna River, Abyi Lowland
Literature type: Report
Language:
English
Full reference: Schekkerman, H. & Koffijberg, K. 2019. Annual survival in the Swedish Lesser White-fronted Geese. , Sovon-report 2019/63, Sovon Vogelonderzoek Nederland, Nijmegen. 22 pp.
Keywords: reintroduction, farming, releases, survival, Sweden
Abstract:
This report presents the first effort to estimate annual survival rates in the LWfG from the Swedish breeding population. It is among the first studies at all to quantify annual survival probabilities in this highly threatened species. An extensive dataset with live resightings was used as input in a mark-recapture survival analyses in MARK. At present, resighting probabilities of the marked birds are very high, i.e. >95%, thus reflecting nearly the entire ringed population. This is made possible by a large number of volunteer ring readers and dedicated effort of the project to facilitate ring reading at key staging sites (see Figure 1). Figure 4 summarises the survival rates described in chapter 3. The main conclusions that can be drawn from the analyses are: 1) During the first project phase (period 1, releases until 1999) there was an overall increase in annual survival probabilities in all age-classes in the course of the project, i.e. between 1984-2003. Survival was lowest in birds that had been released as yearlings, without any parental care, followed by first-year survival in birds that had been released as juveniles with Barnacle Goose as forster parents. Remarkably, survival was slightly higher in the 2nd year after release for birds released as juveniles than in adult birds (3 years and older, birds released as juveniles and yearlings combined); 2) During the second project phase (period 2, after 2010) there was no trend in survival rates over time (but note that this period spans just five years). Birds released as yearlings had rather similar (low) survival probabilities as those in the first project phase. However, first-year survival in birds released as juveniles was lower (and now comparable with birds released as yearlings) than in the first project phase, likely because juveniles were now released without parental care. Again, survival in the 2nd year after release for birds released as juvenile was somewhat higher than adult survival. Adult survival in the second period was lower than in the first period, but also subject to some variation (note standard error). Again note that the period for which this could be calculated is rather short, as only data from 2012-2017 were taken into account.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: International journal of environmental research and public health
Volume: 16 , Pages: 1147
Language:
English
External Link:
Full reference: Lei, J., Jia, Y., Zuo, A., Zeng, Q., Shi, L., Zhou, Y., Zhang, H., Lu, C., Lei, G., & Wen, L. 2019. Bird Satellite Tracking Revealed Critical Protection Gaps in East Asian-Australasian Flyway. International journal of environmental research and public health 16: 1147 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071147
Keywords: migration route, stopover, gps tracking, utilization distribution, Croplands, Northeast China Plains,
Abstract:
Most migratory birds depend on stopover sites, which are essential for refueling during migration and affect their population dynamics. In the East Asian–Australasian Flyway (EAAF), however, the stopover ecology of migratory waterfowl is severely under-studied. The knowledge gaps regarding the timing, intensity and duration of stopover site usages prevent the development of effective and full annual cycle conservation strategies for migratory waterfowl in EAAF. In this study, we obtained a total of 33,493 relocations and visualized 33 completed spring migratory paths of five geese species using satellite tracking devices. We delineated 2,192,823 ha as the key stopover sites along the migration routes and found that croplands were the largest land use type within the stopover sites, followed by wetlands and natural grasslands (62.94%, 17.86% and 15.48% respectively). We further identified the conservation gaps by overlapping the stopover sites with the World Database on Protected Areas (PA). The results showed that only 15.63% (or 342,757 ha) of the stopover sites are covered by the current PA network. Our findings fulfil some key knowledge gaps for the conservation of the migratory waterbirds along the EAAF, thus enabling an integrative conservation strategy for migratory water birds in the flyway.
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Freshwater biology
Volume: 64 , Pages: 1183-1195.
DOI: 10.1111/fwb.13294
Language:
English
Full reference: Jialin, L., Yifei, J., Yuyu, W., Guangchun, L., Cai, L., Neil, S., & Li, W. 2019. Behavioural plasticity and trophic niche shift: How wintering geese respond to habitat alteration. Freshwater biology 64: 1183-1195. https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13294
Keywords: behavioural response, hydrological regimes, trophic niche width, trophic position, wintering habitats, China
Abstract:
1. The accelerated rate of human-induced environmental change poses a significant challenge for wildlife. The ability of wild animals to adapt to environmental changes has important consequences for their fitness, survival, and reproduction. Behavioural flexibility, an immediate adjustment of behaviour in response to environmental variability, may be particularly important for coping with anthropogenic change. The main aim of this study was to quantify the response of two wintering goose species (bean goose Anser fabalis and lesser white-fronted goose Anser erythropus) to poor habitat condition at population level by studying foraging behaviour. In addition, we tested whether behavioural plasticity could alter trophic niche. 2. We characterised foraging behaviours and calculated daily home range (HR) of the geese using global positioning system tracking data. We calculated standard ellipse areas to quantify niche width using the δ13C and δ15N values of individual geese. We linked behavioural plasticity with habitat quality using ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) models. We also tested the correlation between standard ellipse areas and HR using ANCOVA model. 3. We found significant differences in geese foraging behaviours between years in their daily foraging area, travel distance and speed, and turning angle. Specifically, the birds increased their foraging area to satisfy their daily energy intake requirement in response to poor habitat conditions. They flew more sinuously and travelled faster and longer distances on a daily basis. For the endangered lesser white-fronted goose, all behaviour variables were associated with habitat quality. For bean goose, only HR and turning angle were correlated with habitat quality. The birds, especially the lesser white-fronted goose, may have had a higher trophic position under poor conditions. 4. Our findings indicate that wintering geese showed a high degree of behavioural plasticity. However, more active foraging behaviours under poor habitat condition did not lead to a broader trophic niche. Habitat availability could be responsible to the divergent responses of foraging HR and isotopic niche to human-induced environmental change. Therefore, maintaining natural hydrological regimes during the critical period (i.e. September–November) to ensure that quality food
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: Report
Language: Swedish In Swedish with English summary.
Download:Full reference: Willebrand, T. & Willebrand, S. 2018. Utvärdering av Åtgärdsprogrammet för fjällgås 2011–2017. [Evaluation of the 2011–2017 Action Program for the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus).] , Naturvårdsverket Rapport 6836. 26. pp
Keywords: captive breeding, reintroduction, red fox culling, monitoring, Sweden
Abstract:
This report is an external evaluation of the current Swedish Action Plan for the Lesser White-Fronted Goose (2011-2015, extended until 2017) and parts of the Lesser White-Fronted Goose Project, commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). The evaluation has come to the following conclusions: 1. The Lesser White-fronted Goose in Sweden is critically endangered and immigration from other populations, like the small Norwegian population, is not very probable. To secure the species from becoming extinct in in Sweden, larger resources are required than what is currently available in the system for action plans at SEPA. 2. An increased focus on breeding areas is recommended to obtain more data on predator activity, human disturbance and recruitment of released birds from the breeding program. 3. An increased control of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in the breeding area during late winter, and an evaluation of the optimal ratio of released to wild birds in the population, are two highly prioritized actions. 4. Establishing a systematic monitoring program including quality control will make estimates on population development more reliable. 5. Potential breeding areas, with special emphasize on the extent of grazing fields, should be surveyed in the proximity of the present breeding area to estimate the possibility of natural expansion into new areas. 6. The captive breeding and release is well organized and of high quality. (However, as stressed above, an estimate of the optimal numbers of released birds into the wild should be evaluated.)
Literature type: Report
Language:
English
Full reference: Vougioukalou, M. (compiler) 2018. Monitoring the Lesser White-fronted Goose in Greece 2017 - 2018. , Hellenic Ornithological Society / BirdLife Greece. 33 pp.
Keywords: monitoring, Greece, numbers
Literature type: Scientific
Journal: Scientific reports
Volume: 8 , Pages: 2014
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18594-2
Language:
English
External Link:
Full reference: Liang, J., Gao, X., Zeng, G., Hua, S., Zhong, M., Li, X., & Li, X. 2018. Coupling Modern Portfolio Theory and Marxan enhances the efficiency of Lesser White-fronted Goose's (Anser erythropus) habitat conservation. Scientific reports 8: 2014 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18594-2
Keywords: Climate change, Biodiversity, ecological modelling, wetlands ecology, China, Yangtze River
Abstract:
Climate change and human activities cause uncertain changes to species biodiversity by altering their habitat. The uncertainty of climate change requires planners to balance the benefit and cost of making conservation plan. Here optimal protection approach for Lesser White-fronted Goose (LWfG) by coupling Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) and Marxan selection were proposed. MPT was used to provide suggested weights of investment for protected area (PA) and reduce the influence of climatic uncertainty, while Marxan was utilized to choose a series of specific locations for PA. We argued that through combining these two commonly used techniques with the conservation plan, including assets allocation and PA chosing, the efficiency of rare bird's protection would be enhanced. In MPT analyses, the uncertainty of conservation-outcome can be reduced while conservation effort was allocated in Hunan, Jiangxi and Yangtze River delta. In Marxan model, the optimal location for habitat restorations based on existing nature reserve was identified. Clear priorities for the location and allocation of assets could be provided based on this research, and it could help decision makers to build conservation strategy for LWfG.
Literature type: Report
Language:
English
Full reference: Jones, I.L., Whytock, R.C. & Bunnefeld, N. 2018. Assessing motivations for the illegal killing of Lesser White-fronted Geese at key sites in Kazakhstan. , AEWA Lesser White-fronted Goose International Working Group Report Series No. 6, Bonn, Germany.
Keywords: conservation, hunting, Kazakhstan, illegal hunting, Questionnaires, Unmatched Count Technique
Number of results: 539