Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability
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 winterin...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270916000393 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270916000393 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0959270916000393 2024-09-09T19:01:10+00:00 Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability KARMIRIS, ILIAS KAZANTZIDIS, SAVAS PLATIS, PANAGIOTIS PAPACHRISTOU, THOMAS G. 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270916000393 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270916000393 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Bird Conservation International volume 27, issue 3, page 355-370 ISSN 0959-2709 1474-0001 journal-article 2017 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270916000393 2024-06-26T04:03:56Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anser erythropus Fennoscandia Fennoscandian lesser white-fronted goose Cambridge University Press Thrace ENVELOPE(161.117,161.117,-77.500,-77.500) Bird Conservation International 27 3 355 370 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
KARMIRIS, ILIAS KAZANTZIDIS, SAVAS PLATIS, PANAGIOTIS PAPACHRISTOU, THOMAS G. |
spellingShingle |
KARMIRIS, ILIAS KAZANTZIDIS, SAVAS PLATIS, PANAGIOTIS PAPACHRISTOU, THOMAS G. Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
author_facet |
KARMIRIS, ILIAS KAZANTZIDIS, SAVAS PLATIS, PANAGIOTIS PAPACHRISTOU, THOMAS G. |
author_sort |
KARMIRIS, ILIAS |
title |
Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
title_short |
Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
title_full |
Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
title_fullStr |
Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diet selection by wintering Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
title_sort |
diet selection by wintering lesser white-fronted goose anser erythropusand the role of food availability |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270916000393 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270916000393 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(161.117,161.117,-77.500,-77.500) |
geographic |
Thrace |
geographic_facet |
Thrace |
genre |
Anser erythropus Fennoscandia Fennoscandian lesser white-fronted goose |
genre_facet |
Anser erythropus Fennoscandia Fennoscandian lesser white-fronted goose |
op_source |
Bird Conservation International volume 27, issue 3, page 355-370 ISSN 0959-2709 1474-0001 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270916000393 |
container_title |
Bird Conservation International |
container_volume |
27 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
355 |
op_container_end_page |
370 |
_version_ |
1809944172393660416 |