Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus and the role of food availability

Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus and the role of food... Summary The Fennoscandian population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (LWfG) is on the verge of extinction and migrates from northern Fennoscandia to Greece on a regular seasonal basis. For the first time, diet selection was investigated during two years at Kerkini Lake, a wintering site in Greece. The relative use of LWfG’s feeding habitats was systematically recorded by visual observations of the LWfG flocks. Food availability was measured by the relative cover of available vegetation types while the diet composition was determined by the microhistological analysis of droppings. In addition, we determined crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and acid detergent lignin content of the most preferred plant species by LWfG and all vegetation categories that contributed to LWfG diet in the middle of the duration of their stay at Kerkini Lake and after their departure from the lake. LWfG feeding habitat was exclusively marshy grassland in water less than 5 cm deep up to 300–400 m away from the shore. LWfG selected a diverse number of plant species (33), however, grass made up the 58% of their diets. The most preferred plant species were Echinochloa crus-galli, Cyperus esculentus, Scirpus lacustris and Ranunculus sceleratus. LWfG departed from Kerkini Lake in mid-December to the Evros Delta (Thrace, eastern Greece), when either food availability falls in very low levels or flooding occurred in their main feeding habitat. Consequently, as long as food and habitat resources are available for LWfG, it is very likely that the birds will winter mainly at Kerkini Lake and not at the Evros Delta, which will contribute to further minimisation of the theoretical risk of accidental shooting of LWfG at the latter wintering habitat. Thus, future conservation actions should primarily focus on the grassland improvement at Kerkini Lake enhancing the availability of food resources for LWfG (mainly grasses) and the protection of the feeding habitat from flooding. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Bird Conservation International Cambridge University Press

Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus and the role of food availability

Bird Conservation International , Volume 27 (3): 16 – May 15, 2017
Download PDF
16 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/cambridge-university-press/diet-selection-by-wintering-lesser-white-fronted-goose-anser-qEYRyK9x0c

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Copyright
Copyright © BirdLife International 2017 
ISSN
1474-0001
eISSN
0959-2709
DOI
10.1017/S0959270916000393
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Summary The Fennoscandian population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (LWfG) is on the verge of extinction and migrates from northern Fennoscandia to Greece on a regular seasonal basis. For the first time, diet selection was investigated during two years at Kerkini Lake, a wintering site in Greece. The relative use of LWfG’s feeding habitats was systematically recorded by visual observations of the LWfG flocks. Food availability was measured by the relative cover of available vegetation types while the diet composition was determined by the microhistological analysis of droppings. In addition, we determined crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and acid detergent lignin content of the most preferred plant species by LWfG and all vegetation categories that contributed to LWfG diet in the middle of the duration of their stay at Kerkini Lake and after their departure from the lake. LWfG feeding habitat was exclusively marshy grassland in water less than 5 cm deep up to 300–400 m away from the shore. LWfG selected a diverse number of plant species (33), however, grass made up the 58% of their diets. The most preferred plant species were Echinochloa crus-galli, Cyperus esculentus, Scirpus lacustris and Ranunculus sceleratus. LWfG departed from Kerkini Lake in mid-December to the Evros Delta (Thrace, eastern Greece), when either food availability falls in very low levels or flooding occurred in their main feeding habitat. Consequently, as long as food and habitat resources are available for LWfG, it is very likely that the birds will winter mainly at Kerkini Lake and not at the Evros Delta, which will contribute to further minimisation of the theoretical risk of accidental shooting of LWfG at the latter wintering habitat. Thus, future conservation actions should primarily focus on the grassland improvement at Kerkini Lake enhancing the availability of food resources for LWfG (mainly grasses) and the protection of the feeding habitat from flooding.

Journal

Bird Conservation International – Cambridge University Press

Published: May 15, 2017

References

  • Evaluation of microhistological analysis for determining ruminant diet botanical composition
  • Lesser White-fronted (Anser erythropus) and Greater White-fronted (A. albifrons) Geese wintering in Greek wetlands are not threatened by Pb through shot ingestion
  • Technical note: Physical factors that influence fecal analysis estimates of herbivore diets
  • Exotic herbivores directly facilitate the exotic grasses they graze: mechanisms for an unexpected positive feedback between invaders
  • The relative importance of food biomass and quality for patch and habitat choice in Brent Geese
  • Consumers’ purchase intentions towards Water Buffalo Milk Products (WBMPs) in the Greater Area of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • Using habitat selection theories to predict the spatiotemporal distribution of migratory birds during stopover–a case study of pink-footed geese
  • Within-winter shifts in Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus distribution at East Dongting Lake, China
  • How well do food distributions predict spatial distributions of shorebirds with different degrees of self-organization?
  • Effects of agricultural change on abundance, fitness components and distribution of two arctic-nesting goose populations
  • Current estimates of goose population sizes in western Europe, a gap analysis and an assessment of trends
  • Fecal analysis to estimate mule deer diets
  • Causes of the redistribution of Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus in Britain
  • Training needed for quantifying simulated diets from fragmented range plants
  • Evaluation of different calculation procedures for microhistological analysis
  • Carry-over effects reveal reproductive costs in a long-distance migrant
  • Effects of food availability on the distribution of migratory warblers among habitats in Jamaica
  • A note on the diet of the Lesser White-fronted Goose wintering in the Evros Delta
  • Habitat use by free grazing water buffaloes at the Kerkini Lake
  • Cereals attract wild avian herbivores in wet grasslands – Implications for range management
  • Correcting for differential digestibility in microhistological analysis involving common coastal forages of the Pacific Northwest
  • Notes on the food choice of breeding Lesser White-fronted Goose
  • Migration of Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus mapped by satellite telemetry
  • Plant diversity and conservation value of continental temporary pools
  • Diet selection of lesser white-fronted geese Anser eruthropus at a spring staging area
  • Comparison of fecal analysis and rumen evacuation techniques for sampling diet botanical composition of grazing cattle
  • Climate, trophic interactions, density dependence and carry-over effects on the population productivity of a migratory Arctic herbivorous bird
  • The damage-conservation interface illustrated by geese
  • Untersuchung der Unkrautvegetation auf überstauten Ackerflächen in Süd-West Ungarn
  • Monitoring of Lesser White-fronted Geese in Greece
  • Microhistological estimation of grass leaf blade percentages in pastures and diets
  • The effects of reseeding, fertilizer application and disturbance on the use of grasslands by barnacle geese, and the implications for refuge management
  • Adaptations to and consequences of an herbivorous diet in grouse and waterfowl
  • Food selection by barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) in an Arctic pre-breeding area
  • Contribution to the ephemeral wetland vegetation along riverbanks and lakeshores of Western Thrace (NE Greece)
  • Phenology of migration and use of wintering sites by the increasing population of dark-bellied brent geese
  • Public awareness campaign for the Lesser White-fronted Goose in Greece
  • On facilitation between herbivores: How brent geese profit from brown hares
  • The entire European breeding population of Lesser White-fronted Goose wintering in the Evros Delta
  • Methods for dietary fiber, neutral detergent fiber and non-starch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition
  • Managing grassland for wild geese in Britain: a review
  • Changes in the distribution and abundance of wintering Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus in eastern China
  • Food constraints explain the restricted distribution of wintering Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus in China