Spring migration duration exceeds that of autumn migration in Far East Asian Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons)  

作　　者：Xueqin Deng Qingshan Zhao Lei Fang Zhenggang Xu Xin Wang Haoren He Lei Cao Anthony David Fox 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology,Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100085,China [2]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China [3]School of Life Science,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei 230026,Anhui,People’s Republic of China [4]Key Laboratory of Forestry Remote Sensing Based Big Data and Ecological Security for Hunan Province,Central South University of Forestry and Technology,Changsha 410004,China [5]Information Management and System Department,IBSS,Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University,Suzhou 215123,China [6]Department of Bioscience,Aarhus University,Kalo Grenavej 14,8410 Ronde,Denmark

出　　处：《Avian Research》2019年第3期319-329,共11页鸟类学研究（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Key Research and Development Programme of China(Grant No.2016YFC0500406);the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Strategic Programme,Water Ecological Security Assessment,the Major Research Strategy for Middle and Lower Yangtze River(Grant No.ZDRWZS-2017-3-3);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.31661143027,31670424,31700330)

摘　　要：Background:Migration theory suggests,and some empirical studies show, that in order to compete for the best breeding sites and increase reproductive success,long-distance avian migrants tend to adopt a time minimization strategy during spring migration, resulting in shorter duration spring migration compared to that in autumn.Methods:Using GPS/GSM transmitters,we tracked the full migrations of 11 Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) between southeast China and the Russian Arctic,to reveal the migration timing and routes of the East Asian population, and compare the difference in duration between spring and autumn migration of this population.Results:We found that migration in spring (79 ± 12 days) took more than twice as long to cover the same distance as in autumn (35 ±7 days).This difference in migration duration was mainly determined by significantly more time spent in spring (59±16 days) than in autumn (23± 6days) at significantly more stopover sites. Conclusions:We suggest that these geese, thought to be partial capital breeders, spent almost three quarters of total migration time at spring stopover sites to acquire energy stores for ultimate investment in reproduction, although we cannot reject the hypothesis that timing of the spring thaw also contributed to stopover duration.In autumn,they acquired necessary energy stores on the breeding grounds sufficient to reach Northeast China staging areas almost without stop, which reduced stopover times in autumn and resulted in the faster autumn migration than spring.Background: Migration theory suggests, and some empirical studies show, that in order to compete for the best breeding sites and increase reproductive success, long-distance avian migrants tend to adopt a time minimization strategy during spring migration, resulting in shorter duration spring migration compared to that in autumn.Methods: Using GPS/GSM transmitters, we tracked the full migrations of 11 Greater White-fronted Geese(Anser albifrons) between southeast China and the Russian Arctic, to reveal the migration timing and routes of the East Asian population, and compare the difference in duration between spring and autumn migration of this population.Results: We found that migration in spring(79 ± 12 days) took more than twice as long to cover the same distance as in autumn(35 ± 7 days). This difference in migration duration was mainly determined by significantly more time spent in spring(59 ± 16 days) than in autumn(23 ± 6 days) at significantly more stopover sites.Conclusions: We suggest that these geese, thought to be partial capital breeders, spent almost three quarters of total migration time at spring stopover sites to acquire energy stores for ultimate investment in reproduction, although we cannot reject the hypothesis that timing of the spring thaw also contributed to stopover duration. In autumn, they acquired necessary energy stores on the breeding grounds sufficient to reach Northeast China staging areas almost without stop, which reduced stopover times in autumn and resulted in the faster autumn migration than spring.

关 键 词：GREATER White-fronted Goose GPS/GSM tracking Migration Spring staging STOPOVER DURATION 

分 类 号：Q[生物学]