Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Herbivores travelling between Arctic and Temperate regions: northern geese in a CHanging world  (HATCH)

Outline
Polar regions are home to a guild of goose species that stay in temperate climate zones in winter. Changes in an environmental component at any point in the flyway will be reflected in population dynamics and behaviour at another, with knock-on effects for ecosystem dynamics as a whole. Thus, geese can function as a link between discrete ecosystems and act as an indicator of environmental changes. During the pre-migratory spring months geese traditionally feed in natural or semi-natural habitats. This preference however has changed more recently and several goose species have shown a progressive shift towards agricultural crops. One of the reasons of the shift towards agricultural land may be loss of traditional habitat. This shift has consequences for (1) human society because more conflicts with agricultural interests are likely to occur; (2) goose populations because they will be more vulnerable in the future as they become more dependent on agricultural practice, and although agricultural crops enable the geese to deposit sufficient fat stores to fuel migration, the plants seem deficient in nutrients that bring the muscles into condition for the long-distance flight and successful reproduction. A major gap in our knowledge of long-distance migrants is understanding the link between events during spring and in summer. This knowledge is crucial to appreciate how environmental changes affect the annual cycle, and to predict consequent population trends. As a model species to study this issue we chose the barnacle goose. This project aims (1) to assess the implications of habitat choice in southern staging areas on subsequent performance in the Arctic, and (2) to bring forward the understanding of biological processes in the public domain, especially in areas where conflicts with agricultural interests are common. We are therefore seeking ways to encourage school children in ‘conflict areas’ to participate in data collection. The approach is to identify marked individuals that use either traditional natural habitats, or new agricultural resources. Disturbance from human activities to scare geese from vulnerable crops is a potentially important component of exploiting agricultural areas, and therefore areas are graded by the intensity of disturbance. Subsequently, intensive effort to identify individual geese at key observation sites on the Arctic breeding grounds explores associations between spring behaviour and breeding performance. The aspects included in the study urge to cover both the large-scale distribution (geographical position of breeding sites), and detailed work on reproductive performance at well-established breeding colonies.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
1. Knowledge about the current situation on the breeding grounds of barnacle geese, which forms an essential basis of logistic and scientific guidance for future research and monitoring programs of physical factors related to climate (snow cover) based on satellite images. 2. Polar-global linkage by relating events in temperate regions to direct consequences in the Arctic. 3. Education of students in local environmental issues and implications of their activities in a broader context, and arousing interest for Arctic research. 4. Strengthening of international collaboration by establishing an exchange network of field activities between the research institutions involved in the project.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Researchers from most nations along the flyway of the two barnacle goose populations intend to participate in the project: Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Russia, UK, and Norway. Main involvement is from UNIS and NINA (Norway), WWT (UK), RUG and SOVON (Netherlands), and the Bird Ringing Centre, Moscow (Russia).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Svalbard flyway: UK, Helgeland, Vesterålen, Svalbard. Russian flyway: The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, coastal area of the Barents Sea (Pechora delta, Waigatsj, Novaja Zemlja).

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 04/07 – 08/07       04/08 - 08/08      
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Helicopter, and research ship to travel the coasts of Svalbard and Barents Sea. Possibly in collaboration with the Arctic Climate Diversity project. On the permanent base camps (e.g. west coast of Svalbard) we can collect data for other projects (weather etc).

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
1. A map that shows the distribution of breeding colonies in the Norwegian and Russian territory with data on the current status (size, quality). 2. A website that will contribute to the education and information of people in the ‘conflict areas’, and that offers the opportunity to upload ring sightings, also after the project is finished.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own support

Commercial operator: helicopter flights, small vessel Own support: Other field logistics (camp, safety equipment)

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This proposal is also presented to the Dutch and Norwegian committees for endorsement.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
New
This is a new project. It is a natural follow up of long-term series of studies on the same populations of barnacle geese, and is meant to stimulate the study of population dynamics of arctic migratory bird species.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project includes two branches (each covering one of the study populations) that work in close cooperation in tuning research plans and in collating the information collected. Concerning logistics and data management the two branches operate independently. Svalbard: WWT will manage the database of ring resightings, with observations collected by WWT (in early spring), NINA and GLOBE (in spring), and UNIS (in summer); RUG supervises data collection of reproductive performance. Russia: no details available as yet, but we expect that the Bird Ringing Centre of Russia will organise the collection of summer data, and SOVON (Netherlands) will process ring resightings.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
1. People in 'conflict areas' will be involved in the project, thus arousing tolerance for geese, as well as interest in the Arctic in general. 2. Established networks will be used to encourage school children to observe the geese (GLOBE, netverk for miljølære, and WWT with a strong history of providing an outlet for education). 3. We will establish an exchange of young researchers between the research institutions involved, especially between Russia and the western countries.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
We will benefit from the established expertise to handle large databases of ring sightings of WWT and of SOVON (in person of Henk van der Jeugd).

How is it proposed to fund the project?
We intend to finance the project through regular funds available for scientific research, e.g. NFR and DN (Norway), NAP and Faunafonds (Netherlands), INTAS (EU), and through fund raising facilities of WWT (UK).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Jouke Prop
Animal Ecology Group
PO Box 14
Haren
9750 AA
Netherlands

Tel: +31 594621346
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Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information