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Greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) first used fields isolated from disturbance. Other fields were used roughly in relation to their size and distance from areas of human activity. Droppings in 40 quadrats, each of 3 m², along a single transect were used to analyze the effects of disturbance. Wild greater white-fronted geese will not normally use small fields with high hedges and will not graze under trees. For the purposes of discussion about such landscape form, Owen considers them a "disturbance" factor as well as active disturbance which puts greater white-fronted geese to flight. Owen also discusses directional disturbance, and disturbance such that is non-directional. Low-flying aircraft and hunting have a marked effect on the greater white-fronted geese. Owen believes the most effective forms of disturbance are "directional" and usually arise from human activity; noise is not as serious as visual sightings of moving objects, and fields which are screened from canals or roads by a belt of trees are not affected as much. Owen concludes that if all disturbance were removed from the New Grounds, the potential carrying capacity would more than double, and that disturbance appears to be the most important factor affecting wintering greater white-fronted geese.