Do Arctic breeding geese track or overtake a green wave during spring migration?

Scientific Reports
Yali SiHerbert H T Prins

Abstract

Geese breeding in the Arctic have to do so in a short time-window while having sufficient body reserves. Hence, arrival time and body condition upon arrival largely influence breeding success. The green wave hypothesis posits that geese track a successively delayed spring flush of plant development on the way to their breeding sites. The green wave has been interpreted as representing either the onset of spring or the peak in nutrient biomass. However, geese tend to adopt a partial capital breeding strategy and might overtake the green wave to accomplish a timely arrival on the breeding site. To test the green wave hypothesis, we link the satellite-derived onset of spring and peak in nutrient biomass with the stopover schedule of individual Barnacle Geese. We find that geese track neither the onset of spring nor the peak in nutrient biomass. Rather, they arrive at the southernmost stopover site around the peak in nutrient biomass, and gradually overtake the green wave to match their arrival at the breeding site with the local onset of spring, thereby ensuring gosling benefit from the peak in nutrient biomass. Our approach for estimating plant development stages is critical in testing the migration strategies of migratory herbiv...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 24, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Jerod A MerkleMatthew J Kauffman
Oct 11, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Cory T WilliamsThomas Ruf
Nov 23, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Chris GeremiaMatthew J Kauffman
Jan 11, 2017·Science Advances·Kasper ThorupCarsten Rahbek
Oct 30, 2018·Ecology Letters·Laura Melissa GuzmanPatrick L Thompson
Oct 28, 2020·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Frank A La Sorte, Catherine H Graham
Nov 25, 2020·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Briana AbrahmsJerod A Merkle

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