The foraging behavior of lesser snow geese and Ross's geese on La Perouse Bay.
Item
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Title
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The foraging behavior of lesser snow geese and Ross's geese on La Perouse Bay.
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Identifier
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AAI3074675
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identifier
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3074675
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Creator
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Pezzanite, Barbara Mary.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Robert F. Rockwell
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Behavioral | Biology, Zoology
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Abstract
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Two behavioral studies were conducted on La Perouse Bay's intertidal feeding flats to determine: (1) long-term changes in foraging behavior of breeding lesser snow geese coincident with over 20 years of degrading habitat conditions, and (2) differences in foraging behavior of breeding lesser snow geese and Ross's geese on this degraded habitat. Data were collected from June to August, using focal animal protocols. The first study utilized foraging data collected in 1980, 1984, 1985, 1988 to 1990, and 1998 to 2000. The second study examined foraging by lesser snow geese and Ross's geese during the 1999 brood rearing period.;Coincident with habitat degradation from 1980 to 2000, the pecking rates of adult female snow geese increased from 168 to 204 pecks per minute. Time spent searching for food increased 7% in males and 12% in females. In contrast, snow goose goslings spent 12% less time feeding than in earlier years. From 1984 to 1998, the mass of gosling snow geese declined approximately 2% in males and 5% in females, and structural measurements (culmen and tarsus) declined 7% and 3% in females, and 5% and 4% in males. In 1999, snow goose brood size declined by 74% from early June to early August. These changes appear to reflect a decrease in food availability without compensatory changes in the goslings' foraging tactics.;Adult and gosling Ross's goose pecking rates were approximately 30% and 35% higher than those of snow geese. Walking rates of adult male and female Ross's geese were 44% and 39% faster than those of adult snow geese. Higher pecking rates and use of larger feeding areas appears to have contributed to the high survival rate of gosling Ross's geese.;Results from this research highlight the need for behavioral studies in wildlife management and conservation by demonstrating how a degraded habitat can differentially affect two species. Data can now be used by conservationists to monitor the population dynamics of these species, and their potential impact on other ecosystems.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
