A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime
The endangered population of light-bellied brent geese (Branta bernicla hrota) breeding in Svalbard and north-east Greenland used to have its core breeding area in the archipelago of Tusenøyane in south-east Svalbard. Studies carried out during 1987–1991 showed that the Tusenøyane population was sub...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2019
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3393 https://doaj.org/article/f160d6ec8ccd428483346ff5ce7e8e1e |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f160d6ec8ccd428483346ff5ce7e8e1e 2023-05-15T15:11:19+02:00 A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime Jesper Madsen Cornelia Jaspers John Frikke Ove M. Gundersen Bart A. Nolet Koen Nolet Kees H.T. Schreven Christian Sonne Peter P. de Vries 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3393 https://doaj.org/article/f160d6ec8ccd428483346ff5ce7e8e1e EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3393/9296 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v38.3393 https://doaj.org/article/f160d6ec8ccd428483346ff5ce7e8e1e Polar Research, Vol 38, Iss 0, Pp 1-6 (2019) Branta bernicla hrota Cochlearia officinalis great skua polar bear predation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3393 2022-12-30T22:15:34Z The endangered population of light-bellied brent geese (Branta bernicla hrota) breeding in Svalbard and north-east Greenland used to have its core breeding area in the archipelago of Tusenøyane in south-east Svalbard. Studies carried out during 1987–1991 showed that the Tusenøyane population was subject to heavy egg predation by polar bears and, in one year, Arctic foxes. Revisiting some key nesting islands in August 2018, we found few nests used by brent geese and no families. The high density of common scurvygrass (Cochlearia officinalis), a food favoured by brent geese and therefore formerly depleted by them, indicates that the geese have been absent for some time. Among other bird species, such as barnacle goose and common eider, very few young were observed as well. As potential predators, polar bears, or signs of their recent presence, were observed on most islands, and great skuas occurred on almost all islands, with 60 individuals on Lurøya, formerly an important island for geese. In contrast, only a single pair of great skuas was observed 30 years ago. The observations suggest that recent expansion of great skuas in the North Atlantic, including Svalbard, has led to a novel extreme predation pressure, additional to that caused by mammalian predators. Despite the loss of Tusenøyane as a breeding ground, the population of brent geese has increased in recent decades; so we can infer that the population now recruits from remote but mainly unknown breeding grounds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barnacle goose Branta bernicla brent geese Common Eider East Greenland Great skua Greenland North Atlantic Polar Research Svalbard Tusenøyane Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Svalbard Tusenøyane ENVELOPE(22.084,22.084,77.106,77.106) Polar Research 38 0 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Branta bernicla hrota Cochlearia officinalis great skua polar bear predation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
Branta bernicla hrota Cochlearia officinalis great skua polar bear predation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Jesper Madsen Cornelia Jaspers John Frikke Ove M. Gundersen Bart A. Nolet Koen Nolet Kees H.T. Schreven Christian Sonne Peter P. de Vries A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
topic_facet |
Branta bernicla hrota Cochlearia officinalis great skua polar bear predation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
The endangered population of light-bellied brent geese (Branta bernicla hrota) breeding in Svalbard and north-east Greenland used to have its core breeding area in the archipelago of Tusenøyane in south-east Svalbard. Studies carried out during 1987–1991 showed that the Tusenøyane population was subject to heavy egg predation by polar bears and, in one year, Arctic foxes. Revisiting some key nesting islands in August 2018, we found few nests used by brent geese and no families. The high density of common scurvygrass (Cochlearia officinalis), a food favoured by brent geese and therefore formerly depleted by them, indicates that the geese have been absent for some time. Among other bird species, such as barnacle goose and common eider, very few young were observed as well. As potential predators, polar bears, or signs of their recent presence, were observed on most islands, and great skuas occurred on almost all islands, with 60 individuals on Lurøya, formerly an important island for geese. In contrast, only a single pair of great skuas was observed 30 years ago. The observations suggest that recent expansion of great skuas in the North Atlantic, including Svalbard, has led to a novel extreme predation pressure, additional to that caused by mammalian predators. Despite the loss of Tusenøyane as a breeding ground, the population of brent geese has increased in recent decades; so we can infer that the population now recruits from remote but mainly unknown breeding grounds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jesper Madsen Cornelia Jaspers John Frikke Ove M. Gundersen Bart A. Nolet Koen Nolet Kees H.T. Schreven Christian Sonne Peter P. de Vries |
author_facet |
Jesper Madsen Cornelia Jaspers John Frikke Ove M. Gundersen Bart A. Nolet Koen Nolet Kees H.T. Schreven Christian Sonne Peter P. de Vries |
author_sort |
Jesper Madsen |
title |
A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
title_short |
A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
title_full |
A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
title_fullStr |
A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
title_full_unstemmed |
A gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in Tusenøyane, Svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
title_sort |
gloomy future for light-bellied brent geese in tusenøyane, svalbard, under a changing predator regime |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3393 https://doaj.org/article/f160d6ec8ccd428483346ff5ce7e8e1e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(22.084,22.084,77.106,77.106) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Svalbard Tusenøyane |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Svalbard Tusenøyane |
genre |
Arctic Barnacle goose Branta bernicla brent geese Common Eider East Greenland Great skua Greenland North Atlantic Polar Research Svalbard Tusenøyane |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barnacle goose Branta bernicla brent geese Common Eider East Greenland Great skua Greenland North Atlantic Polar Research Svalbard Tusenøyane |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 38, Iss 0, Pp 1-6 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3393/9296 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v38.3393 https://doaj.org/article/f160d6ec8ccd428483346ff5ce7e8e1e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3393 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
0 |
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1766342195598589952 |