Spring Staging Areas of the Greenland White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris) in West Greenland

• Main Author: Christian M. Glahder
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Greenland; Arctic; Ice cap
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.535.4117; http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic52-3-244.pdf

ABSTRACT. The Greenland white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris) migrates about 3000 km from wintering grounds in Ireland and Britain to breeding grounds in West Greenland (64 ˚ – 72˚N). The migration route includes long flights over the ocean and over the Greenland ice cap. To obtain optimal reproduction output, it is important for the geese to build up their condition at specific spring staging areas before they disperse to the breeding grounds. Two such staging areas had been described earlier. The purpose of this study was to find the most important spring staging areas in order to protect the geese from disturbance by mineral exploration, tourism, etc. The number of breeding birds concentrated on the spring staging areas is only about 6000 of a total population of 30 000. This population is small compared to other world goose populations. Fifty areas were selected from geodetic maps (1:250000) and matched with snow coverage and a vegetation index (NDVI) from NOAA satellite images (in 1985 and 1988) that covered the early spring period. A total of 35 potential spring staging areas between 63 ˚ and 70˚N were then