Atlantic Flyway resident population (AFRP) Canada geese Branta canadensis in New Jersey, USA, have grown dramatically during the last thirty years and are considered as overabundant in many areas. Development of corporate parks and urban areas with manicured lawns and artificial ponds offer ideal nesting habitat for AFRP geese, with limited pressure from hunting or natural predators. As a result, spatial heterogeneity in reproduction must be taken into account in managing the population. We identified the site and landscape spatial scale extents at which land use features influenced nest site selection and nest success. Nest searches were conducted throughout the State during 2009-2010, and 309 nests were monitored through hatch to determine their fates. We ran a spatial correlation analysis of land use composition to identify spatial scale extents at which geese most considerably respond to their environment for nest site selection and nest success. All significant spatial scale extents were at or below 2.25 km for the five classified land use types. We emphasize that habitat-goose associations in densely urban areas were strongest at extents 1 km, while rural and natural areas were strongest at extents 1 km. Geese responded to human-dominated land uses at a smaller spatial scale extent than land uses with low human density. The strength of all nest-land use univariate relationships was low; however, our primary objective was to identify the scales extent at which geese associate with land use, rather than the intensity. We encourage managers to consider these scale-dependent associations in identifying important habitat variables in multivariate models; and if population control of AFRP Canada geese is of primary interest, then focusing on local habitat management will most likely have the largest influence in managing this population.
Overpopulation of Canada goose (Branta canadensis) that make up the Atlantic Flyway Resident Population (AFRP) in New Jersey led to the implementation of a management program that includes hunter harvest, culling programs, and efforts to reduce recruitment through nest destruction. We investigated clutch size, hatchability, and nest survival of Canada goose nests in the AFRP in New Jersey during 1985–1989, 1995–1997, and 2009–2010, and identified ecological, temporal, and spatial variables associated with nest survival to better understand the factors influencing population growth. Mean (±SE) clutch size was 4.86 eggs (±0.04), and mean hatchability of all eggs was 0.61 ± 0.04 across the study. Mean hatchability in 2009–2010 was significantly lower than in the 1980s and 1990s, whereas we did not detect any significant differences in mean clutch size across the decades. Nest survival decreased across the decades, with survival probabilities ranging from 0.68 ± 0.03 in 1988 to 0.45 ± 0.02 in 2010, likely related to reproductive control programs. Nest survival was influenced by date within the nesting season, decade, precipitation, and extreme high temperature. Further, nest survival was associated with commercial‐industrial, agricultural, and urban residential land use at a site level (0.25 km), and natural and urban residential land use at a landscape level (2.25 km and 0.75 km, respectively). Commercial land use (e.g., corporate parks and golf courses) offers favorable Canada goose nesting habitat at the site level, with manicured lawns, man‐made ponds, and decreased predator habitat (e.g., dense tree, shrub cover). We recommend targeting population management efforts in commercial, industrial, and urban residential areas these land uses were associated with increased nest survival. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.
Disruption associated with nest visits during the hatch period of waterfowl can cause partial abandonment of hatchlings, potentially causing bias in the survival of marked birds. We evaluated the use of a mesh clutch‐containment bag to capture and mark entire broods of 151 resident Canada goose (Branta canadensis) nests, prior to hatch, while minimizing observer‐caused disruption during brooding. The study was conducted in New Jersey, USA, from April to June 2010. No differences were found in hatch success or the number of hatchlings marked between contained clutches and the control group. Although this technique was not beneficial in studying gosling survival in temperate nesting populations, it may be effective in sub‐Arctic nesting conditions where nest visits are conducted using a more invasive approach such as a helicopter. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.
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