Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population
To sustainably exploit a population, it is crucial to understand and reduce uncertainties about population processes and effects of harvest. In migratory species, management is challenged by geographically separated changing environmental conditions, which may cause unexpected changes in species dis...
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ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/2561424 2024-06-23T07:45:39+00:00 Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population Madsen, Jesper Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten J. S. Tombre, Ingunn Norway, Denmark 2015 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2561424 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135100 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 207968 urn:issn:1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2561424 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135100 cristin:1257267 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2015 Madsen et al. 10 PLoS ONE 8 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Journal article Peer reviewed 2015 ftninstnf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135100 2024-06-07T03:57:56Z To sustainably exploit a population, it is crucial to understand and reduce uncertainties about population processes and effects of harvest. In migratory species, management is challenged by geographically separated changing environmental conditions, which may cause unexpected changes in species distribution and harvest. We describe the Development in the harvest of Svalbard-breeding pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) in relation to the observed trajectory and migratory behaviour of the population. In autumn, geese migrate via stopover sites in Norway and Denmark (where they are hunted) to wintering grounds in the Netherlands and Belgium (where they are protected). In Denmark and Norway harvesting increased stepwise during the 2000s. The increase in the population size only partly explained the change. The change corresponded to a simultaneous stepwise increase in numbers of geese staging in Denmark throughout autumn and winter; geese also moved further inland to feed which collectively increased their exposure to hunting. In Norway the increase in harvest reflected greater utilisation of lowland farmland areas by geese, increasing their hunting exposure. The study demonstrates how changes in migratory behaviour can abruptly affect exposure to hunting, which showed a functional response to increased temporal and spatial availability of geese. The harvest has now reached a level likely to cause a population decline. It highlights the need for flexible, internationally coordinated hunting regulations and reliable up-to-date population estimates and hunting bag statistics, which are rare in European management of migratory waterbirds. Without such information decisions are left with judgments based on population estimates, which often have time lags of several years between recording and reporting, hampering possibilities for the timely adjustment of management actions. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Anser brachyrhynchus Svalbard Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA Norway Svalbard PLOS ONE 10 8 e0135100 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA |
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ftninstnf |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
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VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Madsen, Jesper Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten J. S. Tombre, Ingunn Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population |
topic_facet |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
description |
To sustainably exploit a population, it is crucial to understand and reduce uncertainties about population processes and effects of harvest. In migratory species, management is challenged by geographically separated changing environmental conditions, which may cause unexpected changes in species distribution and harvest. We describe the Development in the harvest of Svalbard-breeding pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) in relation to the observed trajectory and migratory behaviour of the population. In autumn, geese migrate via stopover sites in Norway and Denmark (where they are hunted) to wintering grounds in the Netherlands and Belgium (where they are protected). In Denmark and Norway harvesting increased stepwise during the 2000s. The increase in the population size only partly explained the change. The change corresponded to a simultaneous stepwise increase in numbers of geese staging in Denmark throughout autumn and winter; geese also moved further inland to feed which collectively increased their exposure to hunting. In Norway the increase in harvest reflected greater utilisation of lowland farmland areas by geese, increasing their hunting exposure. The study demonstrates how changes in migratory behaviour can abruptly affect exposure to hunting, which showed a functional response to increased temporal and spatial availability of geese. The harvest has now reached a level likely to cause a population decline. It highlights the need for flexible, internationally coordinated hunting regulations and reliable up-to-date population estimates and hunting bag statistics, which are rare in European management of migratory waterbirds. Without such information decisions are left with judgments based on population estimates, which often have time lags of several years between recording and reporting, hampering possibilities for the timely adjustment of management actions. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Madsen, Jesper Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten J. S. Tombre, Ingunn |
author_facet |
Madsen, Jesper Christensen, Thomas Kjær Balsby, Thorsten J. S. Tombre, Ingunn |
author_sort |
Madsen, Jesper |
title |
Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population |
title_short |
Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population |
title_full |
Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population |
title_fullStr |
Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population |
title_full_unstemmed |
Could Have Gone Wrong: Effects of Abrupt Changes in Migratory Behaviour on Harvest in a Waterbird Population |
title_sort |
could have gone wrong: effects of abrupt changes in migratory behaviour on harvest in a waterbird population |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2561424 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135100 |
op_coverage |
Norway, Denmark |
geographic |
Norway Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Norway Svalbard |
genre |
Anser brachyrhynchus Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Anser brachyrhynchus Svalbard |
op_source |
10 PLoS ONE 8 |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 207968 urn:issn:1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2561424 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135100 cristin:1257267 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2015 Madsen et al. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135100 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e0135100 |
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