We studied the effects of climatic conditions on the number of juvenile Whooper Swans wintering in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, from 1983 to 2009. We analyzed the relationship between the abundance of wintering juveniles and eight climatic variables using generalized linear models; (May and June temperatures recorded in Cokurdah, Yakutia, Russia within their breeding range, the temperature in Nikolayevsk-na-Amure within their migratory stopover range, snowfall in Obihiro, Hokkaido, a stopover site, and temperature and snowfall of the previous and present years in Nobechi, Aomori Prefecture, where they winter. The models with good fit showed that the mean highest daily temperatures in May on the breeding grounds had a positive effect on the abundance of wintering juveniles, while the total snowfall of both previous and present years in the wintering range had a negative effect on juvenile abundance.
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1 December 2013
Effects of the Climatic Conditions at Breeding, Stopover and Wintering Sites on the Number of Juvenile Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus Wintering in Japan
Kazuo Koyama,
Satoe Kasahara,
Seiichi Abe
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Ornithological Science
Vol. 12 • No. 2
December 2013
Vol. 12 • No. 2
December 2013
Breeding site
climate change
Juvenile abundance
Whooper swan
Wintering site