The Kongsfjorden colony of barnacle geese: Nest distribution and the use of breeding islands 1980-1997

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Four Islands; Juttaholmen; Storholmen; Svalbard; Barnacle goose; Common Eider; Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.628.7728; http://www.maartenloonen.nl/literatuur/nps200-057-tombre.pdf

The Kongsfjorden colony of barnacle geese in Svalbard was established in the early 1980s. TIris paper presents a fifteen-year data set of nest distribution and individual use of different nest locations are presented for the geese breeding in this colony. Nest site fidelity, clutch sizes and a relation between numbers of goose nests and common eider nests are also investigated. The first nest of barnacle geese were observed in Kongsfjorden in 1980. Numbers have since increased on all nest locations (mainly islands). In 1997, 329 barnacle goose nests were recorded in Kongsfjordcn, the largest concentrations of nests being found on Storholmen and on Juttaholmen. Two-thirds of the females had a high fidelity to their breeding island, whereas the rest showed a medium low fidelity to their nest site. Poor breeding conditions, a combination of sea ice around breeding islands and egg predation by arctic foxes were probably the main reasons for shifts in nest sites. Average clutch sizes were similar in most years and on most islands, although some variation has occurred within some islands (no directional trend). No relationship between clutch size and nest number on the different islands was found. A positive relationship between the number of goose nests and the number of common eider nests was found on four islands, which reflects the importance of sea-ice conditions and island availability for successful nesting. No increase in the percentage of ~oose nests relative to common eiders nests was recorded during the last five years. TIris