Abstract
ABSTRACTBean geese (Anser fabalis) and Greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) are the dominant wintering waterfowl in South Korea. Although they are commonly observed in estuaries and rice fields during the winter, the diet composition of the geese during the winter has rarely been studied. In this study, we provide the results from preliminary analyses on the diet of these two geese species overwintering in Daebu Island of South Korea. We used a total of 13 fecal samples from Bean geese (n = 4) and Greater white-fronted geese (n = 9), and performed a BLAST search for the sequences obtained from 87 clones (n = 36 for Bean geese and n = 51 for Greater white-fronted geese). The diet of Bean geese consisted of five families of plants: Caryophyllaceae (75.0%), Poaceae (13.9%), Asteraceae (5.5%), Polygonaceae (2.8%) and Cucurbitacea (2.8%). On the other hand, the diet of Greater white-fronted geese consisted of 6 families of plants: Poaceae (74.5%), Caryophyllaceae (9.8%), Solanacea (5.9%), Portulacaceae (3.9%), Lamiaceae (3.9%) and Brassicaceae (2.0%). We found that plants of the rice family (Poaceae) are important in the diet of wintering geese, especially for Greater white-fronted geese. This knowledge can be used to establish conservation strategies of the geese overwintering in South Korea.
Highlights
Most species of geese migrate long distances between their breeding sites and wintering sites
In spite of the recent attention to the conservational status of these geese, their ecology has rarely been studied in South Korea
Understanding the diet composition is pivotal in establishing conservation strategies (Marrero et al 2004; Valentini et al 2009) but the diet composition of the geese during their wintering in South Korea has not yet been identified, except some descriptions on their consumption of ‘waste rice (Stafford et al 2006)’ (Yoo et al 2008)
Summary
Most species of geese migrate long distances between their breeding sites and wintering sites. More than 50,000 Bean geese and 69,000 Greater white-fronted geese overwinter in South Korea (Ministry of Environment 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). For long-distance migratory birds such as the Bean goose and Greater white-fronted goose, it is important to build up their nutritional status before migrating back to their breeding grounds. Diet analysis of the geese using non-invasive samples has not been conducted except one study on the Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) by Stech et al (2011).
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