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Whooper swan cygnus cygnus January population censuses for northwest mainland Europe, 1995-2015

Laubek, Bjarke ; Clausen, Preben ; Nilsson, Leif LU ; Wahl, Johannes ; Wieloch, Maria ; Meissner, Włodzimierz ; Shimmings, Paul ; Larsen, Bjørn Harald ; Hornman, Menno and Langendoen, Tom , et al. (2020) In Wildfowl p.103-122
Abstract

Internationally coordinated censuses of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus across continental northwest Europe were undertaken in mid-winter 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The estimate of 138,500 birds in 2015, the highest to date, represented a more than doubling of the population size (at an annual increase of 4.1%) since the first census total of 59,000 swans in 1995. The largest increase was in Denmark, where numbers almost trebled from 21,740 in 1995 to 62,620 in 2015. More than 97% of all swans were counted in just six countries. The percentage of total numbers increased significantly between 1995 and 2015 in Denmark (from 36.5% to 45.2%) and Germany (26.0% to 34.7%), but declined significantly in Sweden (14.2% to 8.4%), Norway (13.1%... (More)

Internationally coordinated censuses of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus across continental northwest Europe were undertaken in mid-winter 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The estimate of 138,500 birds in 2015, the highest to date, represented a more than doubling of the population size (at an annual increase of 4.1%) since the first census total of 59,000 swans in 1995. The largest increase was in Denmark, where numbers almost trebled from 21,740 in 1995 to 62,620 in 2015. More than 97% of all swans were counted in just six countries. The percentage of total numbers increased significantly between 1995 and 2015 in Denmark (from 36.5% to 45.2%) and Germany (26.0% to 34.7%), but declined significantly in Sweden (14.2% to 8.4%), Norway (13.1% to 3.6%), Poland (6.2% to 4.0%) and the Netherlands (2.4% to 1.7%). The counts show an increasing discrepancy between national trends in abundance for Whooper Swans in Sweden and especially in Denmark in comparison with results obtained only from mid-winter International Waterbird Count (IWC) site coverage. This demonstrates the increasing tendency for Whooper Swans to winter in areas away from traditionally counted IWC sites and confirms the continued need for a regular cycle of coordinated dedicated swan counts to anchor population trends generated from other data sources.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Census, Distribution, Mainland Europe, Population size, Whooper Swan
in
Wildfowl
issue
69
pages
20 pages
publisher
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
external identifiers
  • scopus:85096526889
ISSN
0954-6324
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4a403c63-03e4-4515-9e39-8776379c7d9e
date added to LUP
2020-12-22 12:34:47
date last changed
2022-07-12 09:07:49
@article{4a403c63-03e4-4515-9e39-8776379c7d9e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Internationally coordinated censuses of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus across continental northwest Europe were undertaken in mid-winter 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The estimate of 138,500 birds in 2015, the highest to date, represented a more than doubling of the population size (at an annual increase of 4.1%) since the first census total of 59,000 swans in 1995. The largest increase was in Denmark, where numbers almost trebled from 21,740 in 1995 to 62,620 in 2015. More than 97% of all swans were counted in just six countries. The percentage of total numbers increased significantly between 1995 and 2015 in Denmark (from 36.5% to 45.2%) and Germany (26.0% to 34.7%), but declined significantly in Sweden (14.2% to 8.4%), Norway (13.1% to 3.6%), Poland (6.2% to 4.0%) and the Netherlands (2.4% to 1.7%). The counts show an increasing discrepancy between national trends in abundance for Whooper Swans in Sweden and especially in Denmark in comparison with results obtained only from mid-winter International Waterbird Count (IWC) site coverage. This demonstrates the increasing tendency for Whooper Swans to winter in areas away from traditionally counted IWC sites and confirms the continued need for a regular cycle of coordinated dedicated swan counts to anchor population trends generated from other data sources.</p>}},
  author       = {{Laubek, Bjarke and Clausen, Preben and Nilsson, Leif and Wahl, Johannes and Wieloch, Maria and Meissner, Włodzimierz and Shimmings, Paul and Larsen, Bjørn Harald and Hornman, Menno and Langendoen, Tom and Lehikoinen, Aleksi and Luigujõe, Leho and Stīpniece, Antra and Švažas, Saulius and Sniauksta, Laimonas and Keller, Verena and Gaudard, Clémence and Devos, Koen and Musilová, Zuzana and Teufelbauer, Norbert and Rees, Eileen C. and Fox, Anthony D.}},
  issn         = {{0954-6324}},
  keywords     = {{Census; Distribution; Mainland Europe; Population size; Whooper Swan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{69}},
  pages        = {{103--122}},
  publisher    = {{Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust}},
  series       = {{Wildfowl}},
  title        = {{Whooper swan cygnus cygnus January population censuses for northwest mainland Europe, 1995-2015}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}