| Titre : | Do Brent Geese Branta bernicla reduce food resources for livestock during spring staging? |
| Auteurs : | Ulrich Hellwig, Auteur ; Peter Koerber, Auteur |
| Type de document : | Article |
| Dans : | Vogelwelt (Die) (123(6) 2002) |
| Article en page(s) : | 283-292 |
| Résumé : | In 1996 and 1997 we investigated distribution and habitat selection of staging Brent Geese on the island of Neuwerk in the "Hamburgisches Wattenmeer National Parc". We studied spring crop growth rates of the main habitats, upper salt marsh and estuarine salt marsh, by means of exclosure experiments (without grazing, only geese grazing, geese and livestock grazing). Maximum numbers of Brent Geese were 1670 in 1996 and 2850 in 1997 respectively which corresponded to a maximum utilization of 1.4 goose minutes/day/m2. Brent Geese foraged preferentially in upper salt marshes, while estuarine salt marshes were only used if simultaneously grazed by livestock. Growth rate of upper salt marsh until June was 25.7 kg dry weight/m2/day, of estuarine salt-marsh 22.5 kg dry weight/m2/day. However, at the end of July standing crop and vegetation height were significantly higher in the estuarine salt-marsh. Between April and June the standing crop was insufficient for cattle and horses, so they might suffer from food shortage. The additional grazing by Brent Geese amounted to only 15% of the intake of livestock and was thus not a significantly limiting factor. This study shows that the scarcity of food seems to be due to inappropriate agricultural management and changes in habitat structure which led to a reduction in the area of more productive upper salt marshes. For solving the conflict between geese and livestock we recommend to reduce the number of livestock, start grazing later in the year and to use breeds of animals that are better adapted to the foreland habitats. |
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