Scholarlink

Background <p>Animals make decisions about habitat use that have lifelong implications for survival and fitness. For migratory avian species including waterfowl, decisions made between hatching and fledging are especially important, as precocial young must not only grow a complete set of feathers but also prepare for their first fall migration.</p> Methods <p>To better understand how emperor goose broods navigate heterogenous habitats during the brood rearing period, we deployed GPS transmitters on females with broods to track gosling movements on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. From this GPS data, we determined distance traveled by broods from the nesting site, brood home range size, types of habitats used, and resource selection. Finally, we observed broods on different habitat types to determine an activity budget during brood rearing.</p> Results <p>We found that emperor goose broods stayed within 5&#xa0;km of their nesting site and maintained an average home range of 9.75km<sup>2</sup> (95% CI 5.54–15.88). Both grazing lawn and mudflat habitats were present within their home range but broods preferentially selected grazing lawns. Broods dispersed to home ranges ~ 5&#xa0;km from their nesting site to raise goslings and spent the majority of their time foraging based on activity budgets. Compared to estimated dispersal distances and home range sizes from mid-1900s and 1990s, our estimates of dispersal were shorter and our estimated home range was larger.</p> Conclusions <p>Our results reveal that grazing lawn remains the most important habitat for brood-rearing emperor geese on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, consistent with past studies. This was the first study of the species to observe brood rearing movements using contemporary technologies, to identify potential causes of decline. We found that females and their broods travel short distances to reach brood-rearing sites and that home range size varied based on individual, not habitat used. We determined a home range size for brood rearing emperor geese which was larger than other coarse historical estimates of goose home ranges on the Yukon Delta, but consistent with studies elsewhere using similar technologies. Overall, their dependence on grazing lawns, combined with long-term declines in these habitats across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, may have lasting implications on fitness of emperor goose broods.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Patterns of brood dispersal and habitat use in emperor goose (Anser canagicus) goslings: behavioral and ecological insights

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月3日

查看全文
  • Mairin A. Murphy,
  • Bryan L. Daniels,
  • Tyler L. Lewis,
  • Benjamin S. Sedinger

摘要

Background

Animals make decisions about habitat use that have lifelong implications for survival and fitness. For migratory avian species including waterfowl, decisions made between hatching and fledging are especially important, as precocial young must not only grow a complete set of feathers but also prepare for their first fall migration.

Methods

To better understand how emperor goose broods navigate heterogenous habitats during the brood rearing period, we deployed GPS transmitters on females with broods to track gosling movements on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. From this GPS data, we determined distance traveled by broods from the nesting site, brood home range size, types of habitats used, and resource selection. Finally, we observed broods on different habitat types to determine an activity budget during brood rearing.

Results

We found that emperor goose broods stayed within 5 km of their nesting site and maintained an average home range of 9.75km2 (95% CI 5.54–15.88). Both grazing lawn and mudflat habitats were present within their home range but broods preferentially selected grazing lawns. Broods dispersed to home ranges ~ 5 km from their nesting site to raise goslings and spent the majority of their time foraging based on activity budgets. Compared to estimated dispersal distances and home range sizes from mid-1900s and 1990s, our estimates of dispersal were shorter and our estimated home range was larger.

Conclusions

Our results reveal that grazing lawn remains the most important habitat for brood-rearing emperor geese on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, consistent with past studies. This was the first study of the species to observe brood rearing movements using contemporary technologies, to identify potential causes of decline. We found that females and their broods travel short distances to reach brood-rearing sites and that home range size varied based on individual, not habitat used. We determined a home range size for brood rearing emperor geese which was larger than other coarse historical estimates of goose home ranges on the Yukon Delta, but consistent with studies elsewhere using similar technologies. Overall, their dependence on grazing lawns, combined with long-term declines in these habitats across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, may have lasting implications on fitness of emperor goose broods.