02040nas a2200133   4500008004100000245012000041210006900161520155600230653001001786653001601796100001401812700001501826856006501841       2000                        eng d00aDo moulting Greylag Geese Anser anser forage in proximity to water in response to food availability and/or quality?0 aDo moulting Greylag Geese Anser anser forage in proximity to wat3 a<p>Flightless moulting Greylag Geese on the Danish island of Saltholm fed on Puccinellia maritima almost exclusively within 150 m of the coastline, despite abundant equivalent food further away. This distribution pattern could theoretically be explained by two alternative (but not necessarily mutually exclusive) explanations: predation risk (since birds take to open water when disturbed) or variation in food quantity/quality. Above ground green parts of this plant showed consistently higher protein and lower fibre content inland than on the coast, hence differences in food quality could not account for the difference in foraging distribution. However, in grazed plots, shoot density was greater at the coast than inland, resulting in an increase of 1.2&ndash;2.8 times the available green above-ground biomass. Hence, the greater abundance of Puccinellia at the coast may contribute to the explanation. However, within exclosures at the coast, Puccinellia shoot density was no different to inland areas, suggesting that some function of goose grazing at the coast was involved in enhancing biomass there. It therefore seems likely that the greater food biomass at the coast is a consequence of geese feeding to within 150 m of the coast, though not necessarily the cause. The fact that the Greylag Geese fed throughout the island whilst able to fly but fed exclusively on the coast during flightlessness suggests that a predator escape mechanism could be the most important factor constraining the feeding distribution of moulting geese.</p>
10aAnser10aPuccinellia1 aFox, A.D.1 aKahlert, J  uhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0006365000946118600520nas a2200145   4500008004100000020001500041022001400056245012000070210006900190300001400259490000700273100001400280700001500294856006500309       2000                        eng d  a0006365000  a0006-365700aDo moulting Greylag Geese Anser anser forage in proximity to water in response to food availability and/or quality?0 aDo moulting Greylag Geese Anser anser forage in proximity to wat  a266–2740 v471 aFox, A.D.1 aKahlert, J  uhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00063650009461186