Effect of saltmarsh loss on the dispersal and fitness parameters of Dark-bellied Brent Geese
✍ Scribed by Barbara Ganter; Peter Prokosch; Barwolt S. Ebbinge
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 288 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1052-7613
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
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The effect of loss of a spring staging site on dispersal and on the fitness parameters fecundity and survival of Dark-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla bernicla was investigated. A group of marked birds from an embanked saltmarsh area was compared with a control group of birds from nearby, non-embanked saltmarshes for a period of 13 years after the embankment.
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Both displaced and control birds were seen at numerous sites other than their ringing site; longdistance movements were detected more frequently in displaced birds during the first years after the habitat loss.
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Displaced birds appeared to move more often to less preferred sites that were not filled to capacity than did control birds.
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Significant differences in subsequent fecundity and survival of displaced and control birds could not be detected; it appears that the majority of displaced birds succeeded in finding good alternative sites. There was, however, a tendency for the displaced birds to have lower breeding success and to survive less well, which suggests that subtle effects of displacement may occur.
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Even if habitat loss has no significant effects on displaced individuals, loss of a spring staging site increases population pressure on the remaining sites and may reduce fitness parameters of the population as a whole. In addition, invasion of previously unused sites leads to increasing conflict between Brent Geese and agricultural interests.
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In order to predict impacts of future habitat changes on bird populations, many more empirical data on long-term effects of habitat loss, such as provided in this study, are needed.