Data from: The changing environment of conservation conflict: geese and farming in Scotland

1.Conflict between conservation objectives and human livelihoods is
ubiquitous and can be highly damaging, but the processes generating it are
poorly understood. Ecological elements are central to conservation
conflict, and changes in their dynamics – for instance due to
anthropogenic environmental change – are likely to influence the emergence
of serious human-wildlife impacts and, consequently, social conflict. 2.We
used mixed-effects models to examine the drivers of historic
spatio-temporal dynamics in numbers of Greenland barnacle geese (Branta
leucopsis) on the Scottish island of Islay to identify the ecological
processes that have shaped the environment in which conflict between goose
conservation and agriculture has been triggered. 3.Barnacle goose numbers
on Islay increased from 20,000 to 43,000 between 1987 and 2016. Over the
same period, the area of improved grassland increased, the number of sheep
decreased and the climate warmed. 4.Goose population growth was strongly
linked to the increasing area of improved grassland, which provided geese
with more high quality forage. Changing climatic conditions, particularly
warming temperatures on Islay and breeding grounds in Greenland, have also
boosted goose numbers. 5.As the goose population has grown, farms have
supported geese more frequently and in larger numbers, with subsequent
damaging effects. The creation of high-quality grassland appears to have
largely driven damage by geese. Our analysis also reveals the drivers of
spatial variation in goose impacts: geese were more likely to occur on
farms closer to roosts and those with more improved grassland. However, as
geese numbers have increased they have spread to previously less favoured
farms. 6.Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates the primary
role of habitat modification in the emergence of conflict between goose
conservation and agriculture, alongside a secondary role of climate
change. Our research illustrates the value of exploring socio-ecological
history to understand the processes leading to conservation conflict. In
doing so, we identify those elements that are more controllable, such as
local habitat management, and less controllable, such as climate change,
but which both need to be taken into account when managing conservation
conflict.