Saving wetlands for wildlife & people
Saving wetlands for wildlife & people
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Greenland White-fronted Geese breed in the low arctic coastal fringe of west Greenland. They migrate south through south and west Iceland during September and October to winter exclusively in Ireland and Britain
(Fox et al. 1994).
Throughout its wintering range it is associated with a landscape characterised by peatlands and low intensity agricultural land. Wintering areas are often remote and flocks can be small and difficult to locate. The present winter range has not changed markedly over recent decades. It is distinctive in being concentrated in the northern and western fringes of Britain and Ireland (Fox et al. 1994). Two thirds of the Scottish population occur on Islay, the remaining located at 33 regularly used sites, mostly in western Scotland, with Tiree, Coll, Rhunahaorine and Machrihanish supporting the largest numbers. Throughout the period of expansion (principally the late 1980s and 1990s), numbers in Ireland underwent slower growth than the rest of the range. The underlying trend has been a gradual contraction of range, and reduction in flock size, with at least five extinctions known to have occurred since the early 1980s. Two thirds of the Irish population occur at Wexford Slobs, the remainder winter in smaller flocks over approximately 30 sites throughout the west and north of Ireland. Thirteen of these sites have shown decreases in numbers and trends are strongly related to range size, particularly the number and size of feeding sites (Fox et al. 1999). Traditional feeding occurred on bogland habitats but in recent years geese have increasingly used intensively managed grassland, especially in the most important wintering areas of Wexford and Islay. Some waste root crops and spilt grain from stubble fields are also taken in autumn. Several flocks have retained bogland roost sites where traditional feeding may still occur at night. Goose management schemes were initiated in 1992/93 by SNH to alleviate the conflict that had arisen due to damage to agricultural crops through goose grazing (Fox et al. 1999). Since the peak in the late 1990s, the Greenland White-front population has gradually declined. Reproductive success has been consistently poor meaning the percentage of young produced each year is too low to replace annual losses. Though reasons for this are speculative, it is thought competition with Canada Geese at breeding sites in Greenland is a contributing factor. In response to the change in status, the Icelandic Government announced a ban on hunting of White-fronted Geese in Iceland in autumn 2006. Up until that point, shooting as a form of mortality accounted for some 3,500 geese per year. The Greenland White-fronted Goose Study first established a network of observers to undertake counts throughout Scotland and Wales, and through collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, RSPB and DoE in Northern Ireland achieved international coverage of the wintering range. International censuses have been made throughout the entire wintering range each autumn and spring since 1982/83. Count data are available from Islay since 1965, and Wexford since 1968, but few other sites in Britain and Ireland have regular historic count data available. Age assessments are undertaken in early winter, primarily on Islay.
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