Effects of grazing by Greater White-fronted Geese on the dry mass of young shoots and grain yields for wheat and barley

摘要

To estimate the damage of wheat and barley grazed by wintering Greater White-fronted Geese, we determined the dry mass of young shoots and grain yields for grazed and ungrazed plots in February and June 2008. The mean dry biomass of ungrazed and grazed shoots was 487-1,472 kg/ha (N=10) and 145-373 kg/ha (N=10), respectively. The loss resulting from goose grazing, calculated from dry mass, was 50-86%. Comparing four grazed and ungrazed sites, three parameters (the number of ears/m super(2), number of grains/ears and grain yield/m super(2)) differed significantly. Mean dry grain yield and number of ears/m super(2) in the grazed site was significantly lower than those in ungrazed sites. This results show that the grazing of young shoots by wintering geese reduced the grain yield.