Combining modern tracking data and historical records improves
understanding of the summer habitats of the Eastern Lesser White-fronted
Goose Anser erythropus
Abstract
The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus), smallest of the
“grey” geese, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and
protected in all range states. There are three sub-populations, with the
least studied being the East Asian sub-population, shared between Russia
and China. The extreme remoteness of breeding enclaves makes them
largely inaccessible to researchers. As a substitute for visitation,
remotely tracking birds from wintering grounds allows exploration of
their summer range. Over a period of three years, and using highly
accurate GPS tracking devices, eleven individuals of A. erythropus were
tracked from the key wintering site of Dongting Lake, China, to
breeding, molting, and staging sites in north-eastern Russia. Data
obtained from that tracking, bolstered by ground survey and literature
records, were used to model the summer distribution of A. erythropus.
Although earlier literature suggests the summer range is patchy, the
model confirms a contiguous summer range. The most suitable habitats are
located along the coasts of the Laptev Sea, primarily the Lena-Delta, in
the Yana-Kolyma Lowland, and smaller lowlands of Chukotka with narrow
riparian extensions upstream along major rivers such as the Lena,
Indigirka and Kolyma. The probability of A. erythropus presence is
related to sites with altitude less than 500 m with abundant wetlands,
especially riparian habitat, and a climate with precipitation of warmest
quarter around 55 mm and mean temperature of wettest quarter around
14oC. Human disturbance also affects site suitability, with a gradual
decrease in species presence starting around 160 km from human
settlements. Remote tracking of animal species can bridge the knowledge
gap required for robust estimation of species distribution patterns in
remote areas. Better knowledge of species’ distribution is important in
understanding the large-scale ecological consequences of rapid global
change and establishing conservation management strategies.