Wild Goose Dilemmas

Population consequences of individual decisions in barnacle geese

by JM Black, J Prop & K Larsson

A culmination of over 25 years of barnacle goose research, with old highlights and new and exciting findings. This book is about an amazing array of individual characteristics that exist in barnacle goose societies - characteristics that yield different abilities when surviving breeding attempts and long migrations. Describing their many qualities and attributes, from mate choices to habitat preferences, the authors provide insight into the rich lives of these social animals. Wild geese face one dilemma after another regarding ways and means for making ends meet. The story line focuses on two populations. One has recovered from its once threatened status and the other is equally remarkable, having abandoned an arctic lifestyle in favour of southern nesting areas.

Available in North America ($35 + p&p) via online shopping at the HSU Bookstore (http://www.hsubookstore.com/ then choose General Books, Campus, Wild Goose Dilemmas) and in Europe via info@brantapress.nl

Table of Contents:

1) Introduction: wild goose dilemmas
2) Study populations and study sites
3) Research techniques
4) Pair formation and mate selection
5) Family dynamics
6) Long-term partnerships
7) Beyond the pair bond: nest parasitism, adoptions, and kin clustering
8) Body size: correlates and consequences
9) Food exploitation
10) Survival and reproduction
11) Scheduling the annual cycle: correlates and consequences
12) Exchange among populations
13) Population dynamics
14) Dispersal and colonization
15) Wild geese in natural and agricultural landscapes
References
Subject index
Online appendix 1 …… click Online Appendix (above)

The authors describe a range of behavioural strategies that individuals employ in order to successfully breed and survive. The study is one of social evolution and population biology driven by natural, sexual and kin selection. The study culminates in the description of how the individual strategies interact to shape the demography and distribution of the Svalbard population and provides information for the formulation of an international conservation/management action plan for the population.