Population trends and distribution of the Lesser Snow Goose Anser caerulescens caerulescens in Japan, based on 50 years of monitoring

Article Sidebar

PDF Supporting Materials PDF
Published: Nov 14, 2024
Keywords:
conservation translocation, migration, reintroduction, Russia, wintering population

Main Article Content

Yutaka Sabano
Yusuke Sawa
Sachiko Uemura
Masayuki Kurechi

Abstract

Populations of the Lesser Snow Goose Anser caerulescens caerulescens, which historically bred and wintered in East Asia, declined from the 1800s and were almost extinct by the 1890s. In 1993, the “Restoration of Lesser Snow Goose to East Asia Project” was implemented, through cooperation by organisations from Japan, Russia and the United States of America. Since initiation of the project, Snow Geese have been regularly recorded in Japan, and numbers staging or wintering in Japan are still growing. Here, we study the population trends and distribution of Snow Geese wintering in Japan from 1971/72 (before the project commenced) to 2023/24. The mean (± s.d.) number of birds recorded in Japan over the last five winters (2019/20–2023/24) was 1,634 ± 196 geese, suggesting that a regular wintering population has become established in the country. We also collated information on colour-marked individuals. Geese marked in Anadyr (Russia) during the restoration project were found in Japan in subsequent years, suggesting that migratory traditions were also re-established. The extent to which the recent population increase recorded for Snow Geese in Japan was derived from the restoration project however remains unclear, because the exact location of the breeding grounds and migration routes of the Japanese-wintering birds are still unknown. Further studies (e.g. GPS tracking) therefore are required for a full evaluation of the success of this conservation initiative.

Article Details

How to Cite
Sabano, Y., Sawa, Y., Uemura, S., & Kurechi, M. (2024). Population trends and distribution of the Lesser Snow Goose Anser caerulescens caerulescens in Japan, based on 50 years of monitoring. Wildfowl, 74, 69–83. Retrieved from https://tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/article/view/156374
Issue
Vol. 74 (2024): Wildfowl 74
Section
Standard Papers

Articles in Wildfowl volumes 1-74 and in Wildfowl Special Issues 1-7  are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to the authors of the articles respectively.

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (which published the journal from 1948–2020 inclusive) retains a royalty-free license in perpetuity to access and use pre-2021 issues for the purposes of research, which may involve sharing with research partners from time to time.

The copyright for this paper belongs to the Author(s). Papers published in Wildfowl 75 (in 2025) and subsequent issues are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

In the articles published in these volumes, all rights are reserved to the authors of the articles respectively. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles into an institutional repository.

References

Baranyuk, V. & Babiy, U.V. 2020. 60 years to recover. Thanks to the Warming. The Wrangel Island Population of Lesser Snow Geese in 2019. Working Group on the Waterfowl of Northern Eurasia (RGG) and Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve report. RGG, Moscow, Russia. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10304.28161 (last accessed 31 July 2024).

Black, J.M., Duvall, F., Hoshide, H., Medeiros, J., Hodges, C.N., Santos, N. & Telfer, T. 1991. The current status of the Hawaiian Goose Branta sandvicensis and its recovery programme. Wildfowl 42: 149–154.

Byrd, G.V. & Springer, P.F. 1976. Recovery program for the endangered Aleutian Canada Goose. Transactions of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society 12: 65–73.

del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. & Fishpool, L. 2014. Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Spain.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 1998. IUCN Guidelines for Re-introductions. IUCN-SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Kear, J. (ed.). 2005. Ducks, Geese and Swans. Volume 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Kurechi, M. & Sugawa, H. (eds.). 2021. Aleutian Cackling Goose Story. Kyoto Tsushinnsha, Kyoto, Japan. [In Japanese.]

Lishman, W.A., Teets, T.L., Duff, J.W., Sladen, W.J., Shire, G.G., Goolsby, K.M., Bezner, K.W.A. & Urbanek, R. 1997. A reintroduction technique for migratory birds: leading Canada geese and isolation-reared sandhill cranes with ultralight aircraft. Proceeding of the North American Crane Workshop 7: 96– 104.

Marques, A.T., Batalha, H. & Bernardino, J. 2021. Bird displacement by wind turbines: assessing current knowledge and recommendations for future studies. Birds 2: 460–475.

Matsubara, K. & Mikami, K. 2015. Summary of recent records of Snow Geese visiting Mawarizeki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Bird Research 11: S9–S13. [In Japanese with English summary.]

Mini, A.E., Bachman, D.C., Cocke, J., Griggs, K.M., Spragens, K.A. & Black, J.M. 2013. Recovery of the Aleutian Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii leucopareia: 10-year review and future prospects. Wildfowl 61: 3–29.

Ministry of the Environment Japan. 2014. Red Data Book 2014. Threatened Wildlife of Japan. GYOSEI Co., Tokyo, Japan. [In Japanese.]

Ministry of the Environment Japan. 2015. Ramsar Sites in Japan. Ministry of the Environment Japan, Tokyo, Japan.

Ministry of the Environment Japan. 2020. Third Summary Report on Monitoring Sites 1000 Anatidae Survey. Yamanashi, Japan: Biodiversity Center of Japan, Ministry of the Environment. Available at http://www.biodic.go.jp/moni1000/findings/reports/index.html#2460 (last accessed 16 July 2022). [In Japanese with English summary.]

Nishide, T. & Ogasawara, K. 2013. A 40-year monitoring study of the Snow Goose Anser caerulescens in Akita Prefecture during winter. Journal of Yamashina Institute for Ornithology 45: 59–64. [In Japanese with English summary.]

Olson, S.M. 2023. Pacific Flyway Data Book, 2023. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management, Montana, USA.

Parker, K.A., Ewen, J.G., Seddon, P.J. & Armstrong, D.P. 2013. Post-release monitoring of bird translocations: why is it important and how do we do it. Notornis 60: 85–92.

Rees, E.C. 2012. Impacts of wind farms on swans and geese: a review. Wildfowl 62: 37– 72.

Sabano, Y., Uemura, S., Iwabuchi, S., Kurechi, M., Andreev, A.V., Kondratyev, A.D., Syroechikovsky, E.V., Litvin, K.E., Baranyuk, V.V., Takekawa, J.Y. & Orthmeyer, D.L. 1996. Restoration of lesser snow geese Anser caerulescens to east Asia: an international conservation project. Gibier Faune Sauvage, Game Wildlife 13: 1181–1190.

Sawa, Y., Ikeuchi, T., Tamura, C. & Nakamura, N. 2021. Seasonal changes of roosting and foraging areas for Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser erythropus wintering in Japan. Wildfowl 71: 108–119.

Shimada, T. 1999. Comparison of the food abundance for wintering geese of difference harvesting methods in rice fields near Lake Izunuma-Uchinuma. Strix 17: 111–117. [In Japanese with English summary.]

Shimada, T. 2002. Daily activity pattern and habitat use of Greater White-fronted Geese wintering in Japan: factors of the population increase. Waterbirds 25: 371–377.

Shimada, T. 2009. Current status and distribution of Greater White-fronted Goose in Japan. Ornithological Science 8: 163–167.

Shimada, T. & Ueda, T. 2006. Relationship of migratory cold air masses on the fluctuation of waterfowl population during the wintering season of 2005/2006. Bird Research 2: A11–A17. [In Japanese with English summary.

Shimada, T., Mori, A. & Tajiri, H. 2019. Regional variation in long-term population trends for the Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons in Japan. Wildfowl 69: 105–117.

Sutherland, W.J., Armstrong, D., Butchart S.H., Earnhardt, J.M., Ewen J., Jamieson, I. Jones C.G., Lee, R., Newbery, P., Nichols, J.D., Parker, K.A., Sarrazin, F., Seddon, P.J., Shah, N. & Tatayah, V. 2010. Standards for documenting and monitoring bird reintroduction projects. Conservation Letters 3: 229–235.

Takekawa, J.Y., Orthmeyer, D.L., Kurechi, M., Sabano, Y., Syroechikovsky, E.V., Litvin, K.E., Baranyuk, V.V. & Andreev, A.V. 1994. Restoration of Lesser Snow Geese to East Asia: a North Pacific Rim conservation project. In R. McCabe (ed.), Transactions of 59th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, pp. 132–145. Wildlife Management Institute, Washington D.C., USA.

Ura, T. 2015. Cases of wind turbine impacts on birds in Japan. Strix 31: 3–30. [In Japanese with English summary.]

von Essen, L. 1991. A note on the Lesser White-fronted goose. Ardea 79: 305–306.

Weegman, M.D., Alisauskas, R.T., Kellett, D.K., Zhao, Q., Wilson, S. & Telenský, T. 2022. Local population collapse of Ross’s and lesser snow geese driven by failing recruitment and diminished philopatry. Oikos 2022: e09184.

Wetlands International. 2024. Waterbird Populations Portal. Wetlands International, Wageningen, the Netherlands. Available at https://wpe.wetlands.org/ (last accessed 1 August 2024).

Working Group on the Anseriformes of Northern Eurasia. 2024. Database of Aerial Surveys and Remote Tracking of Anseriformes in Russia. Working Group on Anseriformes of Northern Eurasia, Moscow Russia. Available at http://rggsurveys.ru/ (last accessed 14 April 2024).