Canada goose gosling survival of the Atlantic Flyway Resident Population

Abstract

ABSTRACTGosling losses account for the majority of summer mortality for Canada geese (Branta canadensis), but survival at this stage can be difficult to estimate because of their small size, precocial behavior, and the land cover in which they live. Previous methods of measuring gosling survival often used individual markers, which can bias estimates when not accounting for total brood loss or emigration. We estimated gosling survival of Canada geese in the Atlantic Flyway Resident Population (AFRP) in New Jersey, USA, during 2009–2010 through use of marked parents and young to incorporate total and partial brood losses. The proportion of marked parents who lost their entire brood occurring during the first 3 weeks after hatch and prior to banding was 0.316. Gosling survival that accounted for partial brood loss was 0.461 ± 0.027 (SE), and was most influenced by nest density and the percent agriculture land use within 215 m of the nest site. The gosling survival estimate incorporating total and partial brood losses during this study was 0.315 ± 0.018. Acquiring current reproductive vital rates will assist in understanding the dynamics of recruitment as a function of population size. The above information, in combination with nest survival and annual survival estimates from band recovery and recapture analyses, has been used to inform a population model for Canada geese in the AFRP. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.