Body Size and Fecundity in Lesser Snow Geese

Davies et al. (1988) concluded that body size did not directly influence annual fecundity in Lesser Snow Geese (Chen c. caerulescens, hereafter called Snow Geese). This disagrees with Ankney and Macinnes (1978) who showed that there was a positive correlation between culmen length and body mass in prelaying female Snow Geese, and that heavier females laid more eggs than did lighter females. A reanalysis of Ankney's and MacInnes's (1978) data by Davies et al. (1988: 645) confirmed that larger (as distinct from heavier) females in fact had higher annual fecundity. Davies et al. (1988) suggested that this disparity occurred because they excluded younger birds from their data set whereas Ankney and Macinnes did not. We view this exclusion not as an explanation, but as a problem. We think that intraspecific variation in body size is an important influence on fecundity of arctic geese. Davies et al. (1988) ignored some crucial facts about Snow Goose biology, which led to inappropriate analyses of a uniquely appropriate data set, and we believe that the influence of body size on fecundity, and possibly survivorship, is a fact that remains buried as a result of facts Davies et al. excluded. Our concern with