Effects of snow cover on the timing and success of reproduction in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus

Madsen, Jesper; Tamstorf, Mikkel P.; Klaassen, Marcel; Eide, Nina E.; Glahder, Christian M.; Rigét, Frank; Nyegaard, Helene; Cottaar, Fred

doi:10.1007/s00300-007-0296-9

Cited by 94 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, in 2008, flocks of families were highly abundant all over Jameson Land (Glahder et al 2010). On Svalbard, it is known that early snow melt has a dramatic positive effect on the density of nesting geese and their fecundity (Madsen et al 2007). In the longer term, the advancement of spring in East Greenland may contribute substantially to the continued growth of the populations, such as has been predicted to be the case in Svalbard (Jensen et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Effects of Grazing and Global Warming on the Composition and Carrying Capacity of Graminoid Marshes for Moulting Geese in East Greenland

Madsen

Jaspers

Tamstorf

et al. 2011

AMBIO

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Greening of the Arctic due to climate warming may provide herbivores with richer food supplies, resulting in higher herbivore densities. In turn, this may cause changes in vegetation composition and ecosystem function. In 1982-1984, we studied the ecology of non-breeding moulting geese in Jameson Land, low Arctic East Greenland. By then, geese consumed most of the graminoid production in available moss fens, and it appeared that the geese had filled up the available habitat. In 2008, we revisited the area and found that the number of moulting geese and the temperature sum for June-July had tripled, while the above-ground biomass in a moss fen ungrazed by geese had more than doubled. In a goose-grazed fen, the overall plant composition was unchanged, but the frequency of graminoids had decreased and the area with dead vegetation and open spots had increased. We suggest that climate warming has lead to increased productivity, allowing for higher numbers of moulting geese. However, the reduction of vegetation cover by grazing may have longer term negative consequences for the number of geese the habitat can sustain.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Effects of Grazing and Global Warming on the Composition and Carrying Capacity of Graminoid Marshes for Moulting Geese in East Greenland

Madsen

Jaspers

Tamstorf

et al. 2011

AMBIO

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“…Since migratory birds depend on forage of high nutritional quality, they have to follow the advancement of plant phenology. An inappropriate arrival date at the breeding site can be disadvantageous for Arctic-breeding geese (Brown & Brown, 2000;Madsen et al, 2007). Barnacle geese may benefit from using the local environmental conditions to adjust their migration timing; however, they may not be able to predict the situation at their destination from their last staging site.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, arrival date and timing of nesting of these geese is highly constrained by the food availability, which is dependent on the degree of snow cover (Fox et al, 2006;Madsen et al, 2007;Prop & de Vries, 1993). In other words, food availability is related to the rate of snow melt, which starts when the air temperature rises above 0º C (Kostin & Mooij, 1995).…”

Section: Breeding Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, with climate change and an earlier onset of spring (IPCC, 2007), geese may arrive later at the breeding site with respect to the start of spring there. This could lead to an increase in nesting success due to a longer frost-and snowfree season on the Arctic breeding site (Jensen et al, 2014;Madsen et al, 2007). On the other hand, the advancement of the growth of forage plants, due to earlier melting of snow, may lead to a mismatch between the gosling's time of hatching and the time of peak plant nutrient content.…”

Section: Predictabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A timely arrival at the breeding sites is particularly important for Arcticbreeding geese as a mistiming may lead to unsuccessful reproduction (Bety et al, 2004;Madsen et al, 2007). In addition, Geese arriving early at the breeding site may encounter extensive snow cover.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Migration timing and stopover selection for barnacle geese Branta leucopsis

Najafabadi

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Consequences of a changing environment on the breeding phenology and reproductive success components in a long‐distance migratory bird

Reséndiz-Infante

Gauthier

Souchay³

2020

Population Ecology

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Migratory birds have a narrow time window to breed, especially in the Arctic, where early nesting typically yields the highest reproductive success. We assessed temporal changes (1991–2015) in reproductive success components in relation to timing of breeding in greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica). This species breeds in the Canadian Arctic, a region that has experienced a strong warming trend. We tested the effect of laying or hatching date, year and their interaction on six reproductive components: Total clutch laid, nesting success, egg survival, hatching success, prefledging, and postfledging survival. Over 25 years, mean laying date changed little, even though it advanced 1.8 days in early breeders and was delayed 3 days in late breeders. Likewise, the number of eggs in nests initiated early in the season decreased by 0.6 egg, whereas in late nests it increased by 0.3 egg. Success of nests initiated early and late in the season was lower than nests initiated near the population mean, and consistently increased over time. The proportion of eggs surviving to partial predation and postfledging survival decreased with laying date but the pattern did not change over time. In contrast, prefledging survival was not affected by laying date initially but declined in nests initiated late in the season toward the end of the study. Overall, nests initiated close to the population mean showed little temporal change for most components of reproductive success and seem to be less affected by environmental change than nests initiated early and late in the season.

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Effects of snow cover on the timing and success of reproduction in high-Arctic pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus

Cited by 94 publications

References 24 publications

Long-Term Effects of Grazing and Global Warming on the Composition and Carrying Capacity of Graminoid Marshes for Moulting Geese in East Greenland

Long-Term Effects of Grazing and Global Warming on the Composition and Carrying Capacity of Graminoid Marshes for Moulting Geese in East Greenland

Migration timing and stopover selection for barnacle geese Branta leucopsis

Consequences of a changing environment on the breeding phenology and reproductive success components in a long‐distance migratory bird

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