Effect of Start of Hunting Season on Behaviour of Greylag Geese Anser anser

Ardea

Michal Podhrázský¹  Matyáš Adam²  Petr Musil² 

[1] 2Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ-12844, Prague 2, Czech Republic;3Zoo Dvůr Králové, Animal Husbrandy, CZ-54401, Dvůr Králové nad Labem;1Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 1176, CZ-165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic;

关键词: Minimum Convex Polygons (MCP);   

DOI  :  

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie/Netherlands Ornithological Union

【 摘 要 】

Huntingisakeysourceofdisturbancewhichaffectsgeesepopulationsdirectlythroughkillingandindirectlythroughshootingdisturbance.Movementsofindividualsinresponsetohuntingdisturbancemayexposegeesetoreducedfeedingopportunitiesandhigherpredationrisks,whichcanhaveconsequencesonthepopulationlevel.Thusgeeseshouldusehabitatsthatprovideaccesstofoodandminimizeencounterswithhunters.Ourstudyfocusedondifferencesintheproportionofhunting-freeareausedandinthetotalareausedbyindividuals,sizeofwaterbodiesusedbybirds,andflightdistancebetweenroostingandfeedingareas,duringtwoperiods—beforeandafterthestartofthehuntingseason.InsouthBohemia(CzechRepublic),in2012,2014and2015,weattachedseventeenGPS/GSM-transmitterstomoultingGreylagGeeseAnseranser.Weanalyseddatafromninetransmitters,recordingtwoortwelvelogsperday,usingminimumconvexpolygonshomerangeestimatesandWilcoxonmatchedpairstest.Weshowedthatshortlyaftertheopeningofthehuntingseason,individualGreylagGeeseusedasignificantlylargerareaandincreasedtheirroosting-feedingflightdistances.Thesechangesinlocalmovementsarelikelylinkedwiththestartofhuntingactivitywhichrelatestoincreasedhumandisturbanceinthestudyarea.Inthepost-breedingseason,thismaybroadlyaffectthebirds'energeticcostsandabilitytoaccumulatesufficientreservesfortheupcomingautumnmigration.However,wedidnotfindasignificantdifferenceintheproportionofhunting-free(protected)areasusedduringourstudyperiods.Thisresult,togetherwiththeobserveddecreaseinnumbersofGreylagGeeseinsouthBohemiainthesecondhalfofAugust,maybeevidenceofalackoflargerdisturbance-freerefugesinthestudyarea.

【 授权许可】

Unknown