From field to flyway - geese and management
Project overview
More related research
Global goals
- 2. Zero hunger
- 11. Sustainable cities and communities
- 15. Life on land
Short summary
We will investigate goose movements, responses to scaring, and how geese are perceived by people, with a particular focus on the Barnacle goose, the species causing the highest crop damage costs in Sweden. The results will provide important knowledge for effective goose management.
Today's agricultural landscapes offer ideal conditions for grazing geese, where they are more numerous than ever, causing conflicts and economic losses. Managing geese is complicated, as each species has specific management needs, and the conflicts involve many actors because geese cross national borders. To reduce conflict and be proactive, management needs tools based on current knowledge from today's landscape and conditions, with superabundance of geese, intensified agriculture, and a warmer climate.
We will unite ecological and human dimensions of relevance to goose management from field to flyway level. We focus on a “new problem species” – the Barnacle goose – but all parts of the project have relevance for multi-species goose management. At present, the Barnacle goose is the goose species causing the highest costs for crop damage reimbursements to Swedish farmers.
Barnacle goose numbers keep increasing in Sweden, as breeders, winter residents, as well as staging migrants. However, the geographic origin of the two latter categories is largely unknown. The species remains protected from open hunting by EU directives, despite being the most numerous goose in the EU. However, derogation shooting is carried out widely.
Our project will provide knowledge about geographic origin, movement patterns, habitat use, crop selection, and effects of scaring and derogation shooting (eg. crippling rate) to this species. We will also study how movements and habitat use affect people’s appraisals of geese and stakeholders’ degree of trust in different levels of the management system.
Project members participate in management groups from local to international levels, thus promoting dissemination and implementation of novel knowledge produced. One example is development and revision of flyway management plans coordinated by the European goose management platform.
This is a 3-year sequel to a recently ended 6-year project funded by Naturvårdsverket and Svenska Jägareförbundet.