Investigations on the influence of hunting on geese and crop damages - Space use, energy consumption, possibilities for guiding and damage management

Project description

Influence of hunting activities on wintering Nordic geese (focus: greater white fronted goose and barnacle goose) as well as hatching greylag geese and influence of hunt on damages caused by geese.

1) Habitat utilization patterns of resting geese in two main study areas (Ems Dollart region and Nordkehdingen) with the help of high-resolution GPS transmitters and if necessary investigation of marked individuals (carried out by IWWR, ITAW and IfV), focus: greater white fronted goose and barnacle goose.
Habitat utilization analysis of (young-leading) local birds in monitoring-main areas “Großes Meer” and “Dümmer” (IWWR, ITAW, IfV).

a. fine-scale movement patterns
b. calculation of energy budgets

2) Space-temporal analysis of disturbing factors like hunting, agricultural works and other anthropogenic factors in the main investigation areas (ITAW) as well as national derivations
a. analysis of divergences of the movement patterns and energy budgets by disturbances generally and hunt in particular

Influence of the hunt on brood populations (increase, space use, damages)

1) Demography investigation of hatching greylag geese in monitoring-main areas “Großes Meer” and “Dümmer” with space time analysis of (young-leading) local birds (IWWR, ITAW, IfV) (transmitter, collars)
2) Inquiry of hunting activities as well as demography study of shot geese (ITAW)
Then from summer, 2017 the single investigations are brought together in the final synthesis phase and a comprehensive active factor analysis is carried out. Finally management considerations shall be concluded.

You may follow the geese contemporary:
(www.gänseforschung.de)

These data are shown as reduced data with raw geographic means. As there is less availability of GPRS in Russia and to protect the birds from selective poaching the online presence of greater white fronted geese and barnacle geese is paused during summer.

The project is a cooperation of
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary medicine Hannover
Institute of Avian Research “Ornithological Station Helgoland” (IfV)
Institute for Waterbird and Wetlands Research (IWWR) e.V. Germany

For more details see the links on the German pages