International Single Species Action Plan for the ... - AEWA

AEWA Technical Series No. 36
sites only) is 200,000 to 300,000 individuals (E. Kreuzberg, pers. comm.). Wheat fields in
Kazakhstan also provide important feeding areas (P. Tolvanen, T. Heinicke pers. comm.).
Construction of dams and other river regulation infrastructure, wetland drainage
Staging/wintering grounds
Importance: High
The environmental disaster in the Aral Sea basin, owing largely to the misguided diversion of
inflow for intensive irrigation, included the destruction of former key staging areas in
Uzbekistan (Madsen, 1996; UNEP/WCMC, 2004; E. Kreuzberg pers. comm.). Large areas of
the Mesopotamian Marshes were deliberately drained under the former Iraqi regime, while
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (and associated wetlands) in Iraq have suffered from reduced
flow due to the construction of dams in upstream countries such as Turkey. Concentration of
birds into remaining wetlands is likely to make them more vulnerable to hunting. The current
international programme for restoring/reflooding of large areas of the Mesopotamian Marshes
is likely to benefit the species considerably. Around key staging areas in Kazakhstan, such as
Lake Kulykol, much of the inflow from spring floodwater is diverted to dams that provide
water for hay meadows and cattle grazing (S. Yerokhov, pers comm). A comparable situation
is found in the formerly extensive coastal and inland wetlands of Azerbaijan that were drained
for agriculture. The remaining wetlands cover only a small fraction of the previous area and
suffer severe water management problems – e.g. lack of water, pollution by pesticides (T.
Heinicke pers. comm.). In Ukraine, damming and regulation of the Dniepr and Dniester rivers
has caused reduced flow to the extensive meadows in the Dniester delta and along the Lower
Dnepr valley (I. Rusev pers. comm.).
Climate change
Breeding grounds
Importance: Unknown
Global warming, predicted to be rapid in polar regions, is likely to have a significant impact
on the sub-Arctic tundra ecosystem of the Lesser Whitefront’s breeding grounds (even though
high-Arctic habitats and species are generally considered those most at risk). Possible
consequences of climate change include direct habitat loss, but also more subtle and indirect
adverse impacts such as the breakdown of food chains and the expansion of the range of Red
Fox Vulpes vulpes. The most likely effect of the increasing temperature is a change in feeding
conditions through altered vegetation. Whether this would be positive or negative is
unknown. Changing feeding conditions affects production and mortality directly. Earlier
snow melt could lead to decreased clutch predation by predators such as foxes, since they
have to search through much larger areas. In years with late snowmelt, the availability of nest
sites is low, thereby increasing the predation pressure. Late snow may also be relevant for
spring hunting in Russia. In such conditions, the geese have fewer feeding areas available and
birds are likely to be more vulnerable to hunters.
Staging and wintering grounds
Importance: Unknown
Global warming is also likely to have impacts on the staging and wintering areas. For
example, increasingly mild winters might mean that geese remain further north than usual in
some years, or have access to higher quality food items, thereby increasing survival and
reproductive success. Shifting rainfall patterns could potentially lead to long-term shifts in
migration routes and wintering areas (e.g. in arid zones of Central Asia global warming may
favour growth of wild cereals in early winter, providing suitable staging sites in remote
desert/semi-desert areas, E. Kreuzberg pers. comm. Conversely, in other cases, there might be
a shift to crops that do not provide food for geese e.g. cotton, grape vines). However, the fact
that the species winters largely in and around semi-arid/arid-zone wetlands, which naturally
undergo both significant year-to-year fluctuations and long-term cyclic variations, may make
anthropogenic climate change impacts difficult to detect.
International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Lesser White-fronted Goose 32