Subpopulation contributions to a breeding metapopulation of migratory Arctic herbivores: Survival, fecundity, and asymmetric dispersal ...

• Main Authors: Alisauskas, Ray, Calvert, Anna, Leafloor, James, Rockwell, Robert, Drake, Kiel, Kellett, Dana, Brook, Rod, Abraham, Kenneth
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; metapopulation; snow goose; Program MARK; Anser caerulescens caerulescens; multi-state analysis; multistate capture-mark-recapture-recovery; Barker model; annual survival; emigration; metapopulation structure; Arctic; Baffin Island; Baffin; Queen Maud Gulf; Southampton Island; Subarctic; James Bay
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.73n5tb302; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.73n5tb302

Estimates of demographic parameters for lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) have become critical to understand ecosystem change in northern Canada. Exponential increase in abundance has produced hyperdensities of these herbivores that can affect Arctic ecosystem stability through intense foraging. Increased and sustained marking of individually-identifiable lesser snow geese over their breeding distribution now permits joint estimation of local vital rates and movement probabilities among widely scattered subpopulations. We used multi-state models, including an unobservable state, with live captures from 5 subpopulations and dead recoveries to estimate annual probabilities of (i) survival, (ii) capture, (iii) reported mortality and (iv) movement to other subpopulations, as well as derived estimates for probabilities of site fidelity and harvest. Our dataset included 144,754 captures of 139,177 lesser snow geese marked with metal legbands, from 2006 to 2015, of which 5,542 were recaptured near ... : Geese were captured en masse either as goslings (Age: HY, Hatch Year) close to fledging or as geese with adult plumage (Age: AHY, After Hatch Year) from 2006 to 2015 in Canada's Arctic and Subarctic. Captures were with the use of a helicopter and ground crews to locate and guide target groups into portable corral traps. Geese were marked with metal legbands only, no neckbands, at each of 5 subpopulations. Subpopulations are QMG (State Q, Queen Maud Gulf), SOU (State S, Southampton Island), BAF (State B, Baffin Island), LPB (State L, La Perouse Bay), and JAM (State J, James Bay). Number of birds banded in each year for each subpopulation, as well as year of recovery of dead birds (2006-2016), were supplied by the Bird Banding Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA. Recaptures of birds already marked with legbands at each subpopulation were recorded. Recaptures occurred only between years, so all recaptures were of adult (AHY) geese only, whether marked initially as goslings (HY) or adults (AHY). Encounter ...