It takes two to Tango: Plant height and nutrient level determine the diet selection of wintering geese in Poyang Lake, a Ramsar wetland

Abstract

In Poyang Lake, the largest and one of the most important wintering sites in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, Carex (Carex cinerascens Kük) meadows provide the primary food source for the wintering geese. However, due to intensified river regulation and more frequent extreme climatic events such as drought, observational evidence suggests that the synchrony of geese migration and Carex phenology could not be maintained without human interventions, imposing a great risk of food shortage during the wintering period. Consequently, the current conservation priority in this Ramsar site is shifted to wet meadow improvement to ensure optimal food quality. Understanding the food preferences of wintering geese is the key for effective wet meadow management. As the growth stage and nutrient level of food plants are the decisive factors influencing the diet selection of herbivores, in this study, we sampled the preferred food items by tracking the foraging paths of the Greater White-fronted Goose (n = 84) and Bean Goose (n = 34) to quantify the “foraging window” in terms of plant height,protein level, and energy content. Further, we established relationships between the above three variables of Carex based on in-situ measurements. The results show that the geese prefer plants with height ranging from 2.4 to 25.0 cm, with protein content from 13.9 to 25.2 %, and energy content from 1440.0 to 1813.6 KJ/100 g. While plant energy content increases with height, the height-protein level relationship is negative. The opposite growth curves signify a conservation challenge to maintain the delicate balance between the quantity and quality requirements of wintering geese. Carex meadow management, such as mowing, should focus on optimizing the timing of action to maximize energy supply while maintaining the right protein level for the long-term fitness, reproduction and survival of the birds.