Effect of Start of Hunting Season on Behaviour of Greylag Geese Anser anser

[摘要] Huntingisakeysourceofdisturbancewhichaffectsgeesepopulationsdirectlythroughkillingandindirectlythroughshootingdisturbance.Movementsofindividualsinresponsetohuntingdisturbancemayexposegeesetoreducedfeedingopportunitiesandhigherpredationrisks,whichcanhaveconsequencesonthepopulationlevel.Thusgeeseshouldusehabitatsthatprovideaccesstofoodandminimizeencounterswithhunters.Ourstudyfocusedondifferencesintheproportionofhunting-freeareausedandinthetotalareausedbyindividuals,sizeofwaterbodiesusedbybirds,andflightdistancebetweenroostingandfeedingareas,duringtwoperiods—beforeandafterthestartofthehuntingseason.InsouthBohemia(CzechRepublic),in2012,2014and2015,weattachedseventeenGPS/GSM-transmitterstomoultingGreylagGeeseAnseranser.Weanalyseddatafromninetransmitters,recordingtwoortwelvelogsperday,usingminimumconvexpolygonshomerangeestimatesandWilcoxonmatchedpairstest.Weshowedthatshortlyaftertheopeningofthehuntingseason,individualGreylagGeeseusedasignificantlylargerareaandincreasedtheirroosting-feedingflightdistances.Thesechangesinlocalmovementsarelikelylinkedwiththestartofhuntingactivitywhichrelatestoincreasedhumandisturbanceinthestudyarea.Inthepost-breedingseason,thismaybroadlyaffectthebirds'energeticcostsandabilitytoaccumulatesufficientreservesfortheupcomingautumnmigration.However,wedidnotfindasignificantdifferenceintheproportionofhunting-free(protected)areasusedduringourstudyperiods.Thisresult,togetherwiththeobserveddecreaseinnumbersofGreylagGeeseinsouthBohemiainthesecondhalfofAugust,maybeevidenceofalackoflargerdisturbance-freerefugesinthestudyarea.

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] Minimum Convex Polygons (MCP)