La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Where to go tomorrow? Are there constant patterns of space use in winter staging White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons on grassland?
Auteurs :	Johannes Borbach-Jaene, Auteur ; Helmut Kruckenberg, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Vogelwelt (Die) (123(6) 2002)
Article en page(s) :	319-326
Résumé :	Wild geese staging at traditional sites use wide areas for feeding. White-fronted Geese were counted and mapped every second day from 1st October to 15th April in winters 1996/97 and 1997/98 in the Rheiderland area, NW Germany. By displaying their distribution on a grid, data was analysed for distribution patterns. Birds started to feed in the northernmost part of the study area, close to the roosting places. On the following days and weeks they stepwise moved to the south. After covering the whole study area they started in the northern part again. This way a kind of foraging cycle was established. Weather conditions had a strong impact on their space use. In a cold winter the same foraging site was used less often, apparently because there was less food available. Therefore, in view of much slower growth of green vegetation, geese had to move faster through a more extended feeding area. From these findings, requirements for the creation of protected areas for geese are derived. The protected area must include enough foraging space also in cold winters.

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