Baltic Population of the Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis (Bechstein 1803)) in the Boreal Zone of Northwestern Russia

The Barnacle Goose experienced a precipitous depression in numbers in the middle of the last century. The improvement of measures to protect the species in Western European wintering grounds and climate warming in the Arctic caused an increase in the numbers of the species and a southward expansion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2023-12, Vol.50 (8), p.1920-1940
Main Authors: Kouzov, S. A., Zaynagutdinova, E. M., Kravchuk, A. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Branta leucopsis
Breeding
Cell Biology
Climate change
Coasts
Ecology
Geographical distribution
Life Sciences
Species
Tundra
Waterfowl
Zoology
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Summary:The Barnacle Goose experienced a precipitous depression in numbers in the middle of the last century. The improvement of measures to protect the species in Western European wintering grounds and climate warming in the Arctic caused an increase in the numbers of the species and a southward expansion of the range from the Arctic islands to the mainland coastal tundra over the last decades of the 20th century. Isolated breeding centers of the Barnacle Goose formed in places of migration stopovers on the coasts of the Baltic Sea and in wintering areas on the coasts of the North Sea. Since the last decade of the past century, the species has begun to settle in the boreal zone of Northwestern Russia. Based on original data from the authors and an analysis of the pertinent literature, the process of Barnacle Goose dispersal in Leningrad oblast, the Republic of Karelia, and Murmansk oblast and the change in its status from a rare visitor to a mass migrant and common, but locally spread, breeding species are examined in detail. The main features of the species’ phenology, landscape and habitat distribution, and breeding biology are considered. The exponential growth of the abundance of this species occurring synchronously both in the Subarctic and in new nesting sites in the boreal and temperate climatic zones of Europe suggests that an active microevolutionary process is taking place against the background of the impact of climate change and improved protection of the species, thus making it possible to consider the Barnacle Goose as an interesting model species for various populational studies.
ISSN:1062-3590
1608-3059
DOI:10.1134/S1062359023080137