Sammendrag
Many goose species feed on agricultural land,
and with growing goose numbers, conflicts with agriculture
are increasing. One possible solution is to designate refuge
areas where farmers are paid to leave geese undisturbed.
Here, we present a generic modelling tool that can be used
to designate the best locations for refuges and to gauge the
area needed to accommodate the geese. With a species
distribution model, locations are ranked according to goose
suitability. The size of the area to be designated as refuge
can be chosen by including more or less suitable locations.
A resource depletion model is then used to estimate
whether enough resources are available within the
designated refuge to accommodate all geese, taking into
account the dynamics of food resources, including
depletion by geese. We illustrate this with the
management scheme for pink-footed goose Anser
brachyrhynchus implemented in Norway. Here, all geese
can be accommodated, but damage levels appear to depend
on weather, land use and refuge size.
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