Rapid Growth of a Nesting Colony of Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) on the Ikpikpuk River Delta, North Slope, Alaska, USA

Waterbirds ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Burgess ◽  
Robert J. Ritchie ◽  
Brian T. Person ◽  
Robert S. Suydam ◽  
John E. Shook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Growth ◽  
River Delta ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens

Recruitment and Maternal Age in Lesser Snow Geese Chen caerulescens caerulescens

10.2307/4924 ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurene Ratcliffe ◽  
R. F. Rockwell ◽  
F. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Age ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens

scholarly journals Are Lesser Snow Geese, Chen caerulescens caerulescens, Exceeding the Carrying Capacity of the Fraser River Delta's Brackish Marshes?

2006 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike W. Demarchi
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Fraser River ◽  
Snow Goose ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Brackish Marshes ◽  
Fraser River Delta ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens

Brackish marshes of the Fraser River delta provide important habitats for such high-profile animals as White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), Pacific Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri), and Lesser Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens), the latter comprising the “Fraser-Skagit” segment of the Wrangel Island (Russia) population. This study assessed whether the current numbers of Snow Geese are exceeding the carrying capacity of brackish marshes in the Fraser River delta. Simulation modelling predicts that those marshes are presently capable of supporting ~17,500 Snow Geese—a value that is greatly exceeded by the numbers of geese that have over-wintered there in recent years (~80,000 in 2004-2005). The Pacific Flyway Council’s target 3-y average population and segment sizes of 120,000 and 50,000 - 70,000, respectively, were set without considering the carrying capacity of natural wintering habitats, the potential impacts of too many geese on upland agriculture, or implications for hazards to civilian aircraft at Vancouver International Airport. The modelled results of the present study suggest that the Fraser River delta can sustain the current numbers of Snow Geese that stage or winter there only if those birds also forage in agricultural and refuge fields—a relatively recent phenomenon that likely bolstered the Snow Goose population. Over-use by Snow Geese can degrade the productivity and habitat quality of marshes. There is documented evidence that some key plant species (e.g., Scirpus americanus) of the brackish marshes of the Fraser River delta are well below their biomass potential (~15%), primarily because of grubbing by Snow Geese. Other species that depend on this brackish environment as well as human interests in the Fraser River delta may be adversely affected by an overabundance of Snow Geese. The future effectiveness of hunting as a primary means of population regulation is questioned.

scholarly journals Hybridization and Population Subdivision Within and Between Ross's Geese and Lesser Snow Geese: A Molecular Perspective

The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 432-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason D. Weckstein ◽  
Alan D. Afton ◽  
Robert M. Zink ◽  
Ray T. Alisauskas
Keyword(s):  
Control Region ◽  
Mtdna Control Region ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Snow Goose ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Goose ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens ◽  
Ross's Geese

AbstractWe reanalyzed Quinn's (1992) mtDNA control region data set including new sequences from nine Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and 10 Ross's Geese (Chen rossi) and found the same divergent lineages that Quinn (1992) attributed to vicariant separation of Lesser Snow Goose populations during the Pleistocene. However, peculiar patterns of mtDNA control region sequence variation, including a multimodal mismatch distribution of mtDNA sequences with two levels of population structuring and the sharing of two divergent haplotype lineages, are consistent with two hybridization episodes in Chen geese. Comparisons of mtDNA variation with historical and allozyme data sets compiled by Cooke et al. (1988) are consistent with the hypothesis that sharing of two mtDNA haplotype lineages between Ross's Goose and Lesser Snow Goose resulted from hybridization (Avise et al. 1992). Furthermore, population structure found within one haplotype cluster is consistent with Cooke et al.‘s (1988) hypothesis of past allopatry between blue and white Lesser Snow Geese.Hibridización y Subdivisión dentro y entre Poblaciones de Chen rossi y Chen caerulescens caerulescens: Una Perspectiva MolecularResumen. Reanalizamos los datos de la región de control del ADN mitocondrial (ADNmt) de Quinn (1992), junto con nuevas secuencias de nueve individuos de la especie Chen caerulescens caerulescens y 10 de Chen rossi. Encontramos los mismos linajes divergentes que Quinn (1992) atribuyó a la separación vicariante de las poblaciones de C. c. caerulescens durante el Pleistoceno. Sin embargo, encontramos que las dos especies comparten dos linajes de haplotipos divergentes, y la distribución de “mismatch” en secuencias del ADNmt mostró multimodalidad con dos niveles de estructuración de la población. Estos patrones peculiares están de acuerdo con la hipótesis de que hubo dos episodios de hibridización en gansos del género Chen. Los datos históricos y de aloenzimas compilados por Cooke et al. (1988) también apoyan esta hipótesis (Avise et al. 1992). Además, la estructura de la población dentro de un grupo de haplotipos es consistente con la hipótesis de Cooke et al. (1988) acerca de la pasada alopatría entre los morfos azul y blanco de C. c. caerulescens.

scholarly journals Do geese fully develop brood patches? A histological analysis of lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and Ross’s geese (C. rossii)

2006 ◽  
Vol 176 (5) ◽  
pp. 453-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jón Einar Jónsson ◽  
Alan D. Afton ◽  
Dominique G. Homberger ◽  
William G. Henk ◽  
Ray T. Alisauskas
Keyword(s):  
Histological Analysis ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens ◽  
Ross's Geese

scholarly journals Lesser Snow Geese, Chen caerulescens caerulescens, and Ross's Geese, Chen rossii, of Jenny Lind Island, Nunavut

2008 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Richard H. Kerbes ◽  
Katherine M. Meeres ◽  
James E. Hines ◽  
David G. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Snow Goose ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Limited Food ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens ◽  
Chen Rossii ◽  
Ross's Geese

We surveyed the Lesser Snow (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and Ross’s geese (Chen rossii) of Jenny Lind Island, Nunavut, using aerial photography in June 1988, 1998, and 2006, and a visual helicopter transect survey in July 1990. The estimated number of nesting geese was 39 154 ± SE 2238 in 1988, 19 253 ± 2323 in 1998, and 21 572 ± 1898 in 2006. In 1988 an estimated 2.7% of the nesting geese were Ross’s. The July 1990 population of adult-plumaged birds was 25 020 ± 3114. The estimated percentage blue morph among Snow and Ross’s geese was 19.0% in 1988, 25.1% in 1989, 23.0% in 1990 and 21.1% in 2006. Estimated pre-fledged Snow Goose productivity was 47% young in 1989 and 46% in 1990. Combined numbers of Snow and Ross’s geese on Jenny Lind Island grew over 250 fold, from 210 adults in 1962-1966 to 54 100 adults in 1985. Numbers subsequently declined, to 42 200 in 1988, 25 000 in 1990, 20 300 in 1998, and 26 400 in 2006. Population decline between 1985 and 1990 was consistent with anecdotal reports by others that die-offs of Snow Geese occurred in 1984, 1985 and 1989, and with our August 1989 fieldwork which found evidence of habitat degradation and malnourishment of young geese. In spite of limited food resources on Jenny Lind Island, the colony continued to exist in 2006 at near its 1990 and 1998 levels. Further studies there could provide insights for management of the overabundant mid-continent Snow Goose population and its arctic habitats.

Egg size as a predictor of nutrient composition of eggs and neonates of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis interior) and Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens)

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon S Badzinski ◽  
C Davison Ankney ◽  
James O Leafloor ◽  
Kenneth F Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Egg Size ◽  
Nutrient Composition ◽  
Canada Geese ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Organ Mass ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Lesser Snow Geese ◽  
Branta Canadensis Interior ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Caerulescens ◽  
Goose Eggs

Fresh and pipped eggs were collected to provide data on nutrient composition of eggs and neonates, respectively, of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis interior) and Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens). We sought to determine how well a commonly used and simple index like estimated egg volume or "egg size" predicted egg composition and neonate characteristics including body composition, structural size, and digestive-organ mass. For both species, egg constituents were positively correlated with egg size, but relations for Canada Geese consistently had higher coefficients of determination than did those for Lesser Snow Geese. These differences suggest that there is more among-female variation in nutrient composition of Lesser Snow goose eggs relative to Canada Goose eggs. Most neonatal nutrient constituents were positively correlated with egg size in both species, but the relations between nutrient constituents and egg size were consistently stronger in Lesser Snow Geese than in Canada Geese. Several measures of structural size of neonates were positively correlated with egg size in both species, but egg size was a better predictor of neonate size for Lesser Snow Geese than for Canada Geese. Egg size was a relatively poor predictor of digestive-organ mass for both species. We hypothesize that the stronger relations between neonate quality and egg size in Lesser Snow Geese are a reflection of greater stabilizing selection for embryonic metabolic rates in species that nest at high latitudes and have a short incubation period. The fact that nutrient constituents of eggs were more strongly related to egg size than were the analogous constituents of neonates suggests that variation in metabolic rates of embryos limits the utility of egg size as an accurate and precise predictor of nutrient constituents in the two study species, but especially in Canada Geese.

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