Anseriformes are among the main research subjects for the Zoology Laboratory of the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS. Olonets grasslands in the Ladoga region are one of the largest staging areas for migrating birds in Northern Europe. During the spring migration, tens of thousands of Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons), Bean Geese (Anser fabalis), and Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) stop over there. For more than 30 years, Karelian scientists have conducted continuous monitoring of bird concentrations in the area.
– Speaking of migration, we picture birds flying a certain path. However, migration is not just flights but also prolonged stopovers between them, which are even more important than the actual passages. During such stopovers, birds recuperate and build up the energy needed for further migration and subsequent breeding. At this time, they are especially vulnerable, partly because this is when the spring hunting season is opened, – said Maria Matantseva, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS.
Ornithologists Maria Matantseva and Alexander Artemyev on a bird watching tower
The monitoring conducted by the ornithologist shows that the migrating bird populations in the Ladoga region have become destabilized in recent decades, especially during the spring hunting season. The most significant fluctuations in numbers have been reported for the Greater White-fronted Goose, whose migration peak here coincides with the spring hunting season.
The results produced by the scientists have already helped adjust the timing of spring hunting to protect a rare subspecies listed in the Red Data Books of the Republic of Karelia and the Russian Federation – the Taiga Bean Goose. This year, the ornithologists' focus is on the key night roosting habitats of Anseriformes in Karelia.
Staging geese forage in grasslands, and these habitats have been well studied and partially put under protection. However, few birds stay there for the night. Instead, they move to Lake Ladoga or, alternatively, to woodland lakes or mires with patches of open water, where they can rehydrate, clean the plumage, and have rest. Being difficult to access, these places had long remained below the radar of both scientists and hunters. Yet, recently, largely owing to the growing availability of light-weight off-road vehicles, the latter's attention has shifted toward roosting geese.
– Night roosts are nearly blank spots in ornithology, of which we know very little: what locations birds choose and why, how they are distributed across the area and how they behave there. As roosting grounds become more accessible, geese become increasingly exposed to hunting. This year, we eye-witnessed nighttime poaching in an area designated as a no-take zone. Importantly, the hunting supervision service and game wardens are doing their best to put a check on such activities. Still, the disturbed geese will naturally not be able to rest adequately on such a night, which means they will be more vulnerable on the next day, – shared Maria Matantseva.
Olonets grasslands, spring 2026
So, thorough research of night roosts is necessary not only to fill basic-science gaps but also to work out recommendations for ecosystem management and conservation of bird populations. The scientific project is being implemented with funding from the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 25-24-00784, led by Alexander Artemyev, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS).
During the spring fieldwork, four observers – Alexander Artemyev, Maria Matantseva, and Sergey Simonov of the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS, and volunteer Evgeny Frizen – kept watch at certain goose roosting sites: woodland lakes of various sizes and mire areas located within a 30 km radius of the Olonets grasslands. In April and May the scientists set up a total of 24 observation spots, both at night roosts and between the main foraging and putative roosting habitats. They counted birds on evening and morning flights, mapped the locations of individuals and groups within the surveyed grounds, their distribution densities and reactions to human presence, and documented hunters' activity, vehicle tracks, structures, and other evidence of disturbance to the birds. Information was also collected on the hunting use of the areas by interviewing of hunters, hunting ground leaseholders, and representatives of regulatory agencies.
Processing the records, the scientists are building a GIS database of wetlands and an initial map of the distribution of key night roosts. The results of this work will be presented in academic papers and recommendations for hunting ground leaseholders and conservation agencies. The developments will provide leverage for regulating hunting pressure and raising the effectiveness of conservation measures. To test this in practice, an agreement has been concluded with hunting ground leaseholders and supervisory agencies to conduct an experiment with restricting hunting at goose night roosts in 2027. The first such experiment was carried out in 2025 and continued in 2026: following the ornithologists' recommendations, Sergey Titov, Director General of Olonets Sports Hunting Club JSC, banned hunting on part of the roosting mires. As a result, goose assemblages in the staging area became more stable.
The scientists argue that the outputs of this research project can be scaled up for application in other regions of Russia with similar conditions, and also be used in environmental management, hunting planning, sustainable tourism, and environmental education.