Population dynamics

Goose populations on Nordenskiöldkysten are heavily predated after polar bears came to the area. The bears walk from one colony to the next to feed on the eggs that they find in the bird nests. Barnacle goose colonies have been depredated from 2004 onwards, and colonies of pink-footed geese from 2010. We record the consequences of predation for individual geese (which individuals lose their eggs to polar bears, and at which stage of incubation does this happen?), and we explore how geese respond to repeated loss of eggs.

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Drent RH, Prop J (2008) Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis survey on Nordenskiöldkysten, west Spitsbergen 1975–2007: breeding in relation to carrying capacity and predator impact. Circumpolar Studies 4: 59–83

Prop J, Black JM, Shimmings P (2003) Travel schedules to the high arctic: barnacle geese trade-off the timing of migration with accumulation of fat deposits. Oikos 103: 403–414 pdf