Effects of Research Activities on Nest Predation in Arctic-Nesting Geese

Abstract

I examined the effects of nest visits and markers on nest predation in black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) and lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) at Anderson River, Northwest Territories, Canada. In 1993, clutch size at the end of incubation was 0.6 egg less (P = 0.020) at brant nests and 0.4 egg greater (P = 0.032) at snow goose nests, visited repeatedly, than at nests visited only once. I found no effect of nest visits on clutch size of brant (P = 0.500) in 1991. There was weak evidence that nest markers increased nest failure (P = 0.052) among snow geese in 1991 but markers did not influence the frequency of complete (P = 0.700) or partial (P = 0.232) clutch predation in brant in 1991 or in either species in 1993 (P > 0.117 in all cases). Nest markers did not affect clutch size or nest fate in these species, and were useful for identifying nests from a distance.