Impact of Physical Object on Scaring of geese : with an agroecological approach towards the issue of geese as a pest in agriculture

Abstract: The interactions and conflicts between geese and agricultural interests have risen in the last decades in Sweden. A range of measures are used by humans to disturb and scare geese with the goal to counteract crop damage. The hypothesis of this master thesis is that proximity to physical objects taller than 70 cm above the ground, e.g., woody perennials, houses or naturally occurring topographical features, makes greylag and barnacle geese easier to scare off crops. The incentive to inquire the effect of physical objects on scaring is that landscape and field features such as hedges, agroforestry and buffer strips are often suggested as agroecological practices. Presence of such element is relevant since geese tend to prefer to forage on fields with good visibility range. The data collected could however not prove that geese are more easily scared/disturbed as they are closer situated to physical objects. Among mixed flocks and greylag goose flocks, proximity to physical objects even made them harder to scare away from agricultural fields.