Identifying areas of wetland and wind turbine overlap in the south-central Great Plains of North America

Context The North American Great Plains contains > 80,000 wetlands (playas) that are habitat resources for birds. This region has also undergone recent expansion of wind energy development. Areas of overlap between playas and wind energy structures are potential wildlife hazards. Objectives We id...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Landscape ecology Vol. 35; no. 9; pp. 1995 - 2011
Main Authors:	Heintzman, L. J., Auerbach, E. S., Kilborn, D. H., Starr, S. M., Mulligan, K. R., Barbato, L. S., McIntyre, N. E.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-09-2020 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Biomedical and Life Sciences Birds Conservation Density Ecology Economic sectors Energy Energy conservation Environmental Management Environmental protection Environmental quality Flood frequency Habitats Hazard identification Landscape Ecology Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning Life Sciences Mapping Nature Conservation Playas Research Article Sustainable Development Turbines Wetlands Wildlife Wildlife conservation Wildlife habitats Wind effects Wind power Wind turbines North America Great Plains Christmas bird count Northern Shoveler ) Northern Pintail Sandhill Crane Playa wetland
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Summary:	Context The North American Great Plains contains > 80,000 wetlands (playas) that are habitat resources for birds. This region has also undergone recent expansion of wind energy development. Areas of overlap between playas and wind energy structures are potential wildlife hazards. Objectives We identified areas where conservation values of playas may be compromised by proximity to wind turbines. Methods We mapped where playas co-occur with wind-energy structures in a 902,765 km 2 area encompassing portions of six U.S. states. At a smaller focal level (59 ~458 km 2 Christmas Bird Count [CBC] circles), we developed a habitat quality index based on playa area, density, and inundation frequency, and spatially associated values with locations of wind turbines; we then examined CBC data for three focal species from 1984-2015. Results Over 38% of playas were within 8 km of at least one structure, and 1.3% were within 100 m; ~90% of turbines/structures were within 8 km of a playa (2.7% within 100 m). Six CBC circles had high-quality habitat overlapping with high density of wind turbines. Another seven were high quality with few structures, representing valuable areas for future conservation efforts. However, lack of consistent time-series data constrained our ability to detect effects of wind-energy infrastructure installation on birds. Conclusions Mapping high-quality habitat areas coincident with wind turbines is a way of identifying overlapping areas of wildlife habitat and sources of mortality without relying on population surveys that may be problematic or lacking altogether. Establishment of innovative protocols will be critical for detecting effects of wind-energy installation, a growing economic sector.
ISSN:	0921-2973 1572-9761
DOI:	10.1007/s10980-020-01076-8