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Migratory geese adjust wintering movements to both short-term weather and long-term climatic change

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Abstract

Climate change impacts migratory herbivorous waterbirds throughout the annual cycle by affecting resource availability, timing of movements, and ultimately their fitness. Using GPS tracking data and citizen science counts (2006–2025) we analyse climate-driven changes in wintering behaviour of Taiga Bean Geese (Anser fabalis fabalis) in Denmark. Arrival timing at Danish wintering grounds varied with abrupt cold spells at the autumn staging sites in Sweden but showed no long-term trend throughout the study period. The earlier onset of spring advanced departures from Denmark, while colder spring conditions delayed them. Progressive climate warming has generally advanced spring onset, resulting in a trend of earlier departure timing through the study period, causing a shortened length of stay at the Danish wintering grounds over time. During cold spells, individuals shifted from the main wintering area to cold-weather refuges, returning to the main site once conditions became mild. These within-winter movements highlight the need for a suitable network of sites fulfilling changing energetic demands during winter. Our results show that short- and long-term temperature changes affect migration timing and within-winter movements of conservation-focused Taiga Bean Geese and suggest their ability to adapt to climatic changes in their staging and wintering ranges.

Data availability

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thankfulness to Kees Polderdijk, Michael A. Schmidt and Lars Haugaard for their tremendous help in catching Taiga Bean Geese, as well as Simon S. Christiansen for additional support. Furthermore, we are grateful to Thorkil Brandt, Thorkild Lund, Dorte and Flemming Sørensen, Lars M. Rasmussen, Jørgen-Peter Kjeldsen, Henrik Nielsen for their help in counting Taiga Bean Geese over the years, and to all volunteers who contributed their observations to DOFbasen.

Funding

This work has been funded by BioCirc Group ApS and the Danish Agency for Green Land Use and Aquatic Environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 8-1110, Aarhus C, 8000, Denmark

    Lisa Vergin, Jesper Madsen, Anthony D. Fox, Ole R. Therkildsen & Kevin K. Clausen

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  1. Lisa Vergin
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  2. Jesper Madsen
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  3. Anthony D. Fox
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  4. Ole R. Therkildsen
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  5. Kevin K. Clausen
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Contributions

This study was conceptualised by L.V., K.K.C., and J.M. Fieldwork was conducted by L.V., K.K.C., A.D.F., and O.R.T. Data analysis and manuscript writing were carried out by L.V., under the supervision of K.K.C. and J.M. Critical feedback on the data analysis and manuscript drafts was provided by K.K.C., J.M., A.D.F., and O.R.T. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Lisa Vergin.

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Vergin, L., Madsen, J., Fox, A.D. et al. Migratory geese adjust wintering movements to both short-term weather and long-term climatic change.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41003-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41003-6

Keywords

  • Taiga Bean Goose
  • Anatidae
  • Temperature
  • GPS-tracking
  • Phenology
  • Wintering site use

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