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It is often necessary to estimate the number of wind turbine collision fatalities to assess impacts to birds following construction of wind farms. Detection of bird carcasses at wind turbines in the field is affected by carcass persistence and searcher detection rate. Integrated detection trials, which integrate carcass persistence and searcher detection trials into the periodic fatality search, have been proposed as an effective method for estimating these parameters. The purpose of our study was to test whether and how environmental factors affect integrated detection trial outcomes at multiple wind farms. We conducted this study at 10 wind farms in various environments of Japan. Binary data on trial outcomes in open versus forested areas served as our response variable in a generalized additive mixed model informed by days into trial, carcass body mass, season, whether snow covered the ground, and precipitation. For both ground cover types, days into trial and body mass were included in all the top models, suggesting that these factors most influenced bird carcass detection probability in integrated trials. The best model in open areas included days into trial, body mass, snow, and precipitation, and the best model in forested areas included days into trial, body mass, snow, precipitation, and season. Values of area under the curve indicated high accuracy of the best model for both ground cover types. The survey design needs to be appropriate to the size of the target species and to the environment in which the impacts will occur, such as the site's seasonality, its ground cover, and whether snow will cover the ground. Frequency of post-construction fatality monitoring should also be set cautiously, especially at wind farms located on small-bird migration routes, at wind farms in open areas, in areas with snow-covered ground in winter, or in forested areas during spring and summer because detection probabilities decline fastest under such conditions.  相似文献   

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ABSTRACT Mortality estimates are needed of birds and bats killed by wind turbines because wind power generation is rapidly expanding worldwide. A mortality estimate is based on the number of fatalities assumed caused by wind turbines and found during periodic searches, plus the estimated number not found. The 2 most commonly used estimators adjust mortality estimates by rates of searcher detection and scavenger removal of carcasses. However, searcher detection trials can be biased by the species used in the trial, the number volitionally placed for a given fatality search, and the disposition of the carcass on the ground. Scavenger removal trials can be biased by the metric representing removal rate, the number of carcasses placed at once, the duration of the trial, species used, whether carcasses were frozen, whether carcasses included injuries consistent with wind turbine collisions, season, distance from the wind turbines, and general location. I summarized searcher detection rates among reported trials, and I developed models to predict the proportion of carcasses remaining since the last fatality search. The summaries I present can be used to adjust previous and future estimates of mortality to improve comparability. I also identify research directions to better understand these and other adjustments needed to compare mortality estimates among wind farms.  相似文献   

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ABSTRACT For comparing impacts of bird and bat collisions with wind turbines, investigators estimate fatalities/megawatt (MW) of rated capacity/year, based on periodic carcass searches and trials used to estimate carcasses not found due to scavenger removal and searcher error. However, scavenger trials typically place ≥10 carcasses at once within small areas already supplying scavengers with carcasses deposited by wind turbines, so scavengers may be unable to process and remove all placed carcasses. To avoid scavenger swamping, which might bias fatality estimates low, we placed only 1–5 bird carcasses at a time amongst 52 wind turbines in our 249.7-ha study area, each carcass monitored by a motion-activated camera. Scavengers removed 50 of 63 carcasses, averaging 4.45 days to the first scavenging event. By 15 days, which corresponded with most of our search intervals, scavengers removed 0% and 67% of large-bodied raptors placed in winter and summer, respectively, and 15% and 71% of small birds placed in winter and summer, respectively. By 15 days, scavengers removed 42% of large raptors as compared to 15% removed in conventional trials, and scavengers removed 62% of small birds as compared to 52% removed in conventional trials. Based on our methodology, we estimated mean annual fatalities caused by 21.9 MW of wind turbines in Vasco Caves Regional Preserve (within Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California, USA) were 13 red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), 12 barn owls (Tyto alba), 18 burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia), 48 total raptors, and 99 total birds. Compared to fatality rates estimated from conventional scavenger trials, our estimates were nearly 3 times higher for red-tailed hawk and barn owl, 68% higher for all raptors, and 67% higher for all birds. We also found that deaths/gigawatt-hour of power generation declined quickly with increasing capacity factor among wind turbines, indicating collision hazard increased with greater intermittency in turbine operations. Fatality monitoring at wind turbines might improve by using scavenger removal trials free of scavenger swamping and by relating fatality rates to power output data in addition to rated capacity (i.e., turbine size). The resulting greater precision in mortality estimates will assist wildlife managers to assess wind farm impacts and to more accurately measure the effects of mitigation measures implemented to lessen those impacts.  相似文献   

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Abstract

Post-construction avifauna investigations were undertaken at Project West Wind, Meridian Energy Limited's 62-turbine wind farm on the Wellington south coast. These investigations were required in accordance with the resource consent conditions to quantify the level of avian mortalities occurring at the wind farm, particularly in regard to New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae), kākā (Nestor meridionalis) and kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae). This is the first comprehensive study at a New Zealand operating wind farm. The methods included three field components necessary to calculate annual estimates of mortalities across the wind farm site: routine turbine searches; carcass detection trials; and carcass removal trials. Results from years 1 and 2 of a three-year programme are presented. To date, mortalities have been recorded for 17 taxa at 18 of the 24 study turbines. There have been no recorded mortalities of falcon, kākā or kererū. Australasian harrier (Circus approximans) has been the species for which the most mortalities have been recorded. Overall estimated annual mortality rates for years 1 and 2 were calculated to be approximately six and five birds per turbine respectively.  相似文献   

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Bird and bat fatalities increase with wind energy expansion and the only effective fatality-reduction measure has been operational curtailment, which has been documented for bats but not for birds. We performed opportune before-after, control-impact (BACI) experiments of curtailment effects on bird and bat fatalities and nocturnal passage rates during fall migration at 2 wind projects, where 1 continued operating and the other shut down from peak migration to the study's end (study 1). We also performed BACI experiments during a 3-year study of curtailment and operational effects on bird fatalities among wind turbines of varying operational status (study 2). In study 1, wind turbine curtailment significantly reduced near-misses and rotor-disrupted flights of bats, and it significantly reduced fatalities of bats but not of birds. In study 2, converting wind turbines from inoperable to operable status did not significantly increase bird fatalities, and bird species of hole or sheltered-ledge nesters or roosters on human-made structures died in substantial numbers at vacant towers. Of bird species represented by fatalities in study 2, 79% were found at inoperable wind turbines. Because the migration season is relatively brief, seasonal curtailment would greatly reduce bat fatalities for a slight loss in annual energy generation, but it might not benefit many bird species. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.  相似文献   

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In a recent paper, Smallwood et al. (2010) conducted a study to compare their “novel” approach to conducting carcass removal trials with what they term the “conventional” approach and to evaluate the effects of the different methods on estimated avian fatality at a wind power facility in California. A quick glance at Table 3 that succinctly summarizes their results and provides estimated fatality rates and 80% confidence intervals calculated using the 2 methods reveals a surprising result. The confidence intervals of all of their estimates and most of the conventional estimates extend below 0. These results imply that wind turbines may have the capacity to create live birds. But a more likely interpretation is that a serious error occurred in the calculation of either the average fatality rate or its standard error or both. Further evaluation of their methods reveals that the scientific basis for concluding that “many estimates of scavenger removal rates prior to [their] study were likely biased low due to scavenger swamping” and “previously reported estimates of avian fatality rates … should be adjusted upwards” was not evident in their analysis and results. Their comparison to conventional approaches was not applicable, their statistical models were questionable, and the conclusions they drew were unsupported. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.  相似文献   

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Abstract The 165-km2 Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in west-central California includes 5,400 wind turbines, each rated to generate between 40 kW and 400 kW of electric power, or 580 MW total. Many birds residing or passing through the area are killed by collisions with these wind turbines. We searched for bird carcasses within 50 m of 4,074 wind turbines for periods ranging from 6 months to 4.5 years. Using mortality estimates adjusted for searcher detection and scavenger removal rates, we estimated the annual wind turbine–caused bird fatalities to number 67 (80% CI = 25–109) golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), 188 (80% CI = 116–259) red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), 348 (80% CI = −49 to 749) American kestrels (Falco sparverius), 440 (80% CI = −133 to 1,013) burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea), 1,127 (80% CI = −23 to 2,277) raptors, and 2,710 (80% CI = −6,100 to 11,520) birds. Adjusted mortality estimates were most sensitive to scavenger removal rate, which relates to the amount of time between fatality searches. New on-site studies of scavenger removal rates might warrant revising mortality estimates for some small-bodied bird species, although we cannot predict how the mortality estimates would change. Given the magnitude of our mortality estimates, regulatory agencies and the public should decide whether to enforce laws intended to protect species killed by APWRA wind turbines, and given the imprecision of our estimates, directed research is needed of sources of error and bias for use in studies of bird collisions wherever wind farms are developed. Precision of mortality estimates could be improved by deploying technology to remotely detect collisions and by making wind turbine power output data available to researchers so that the number of fatalities can be related directly to the actual power output of the wind turbine since the last fatality search.  相似文献   

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ABSTRACT Wind turbines in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA), California, USA, have caused annual fatalities of thousands of raptors and other birds. Alameda County implemented an Avian Protection Program requiring mitigation measures and eventual repowering to modern wind turbines, all intended to reduce raptor fatality rates 50% from levels estimated for 1998–2003. Two years into the 3-year program, we compared estimates of fatality rates between 1998–2003 and 2005–2007 and between a repowered wind project (Diablo Winds) and the APWRA's old-generation wind turbines. The APWRA-wide fatality rates increased significantly for multiple bird species, including 85% for all raptors and 51% for all birds. Fatality rates caused by the Diablo Winds repowering project were not lower than replaced turbines, but they were 54% and 66% lower for raptors and all birds, respectively, than those of concurrently operating old-generation turbines in 2005–2007. Because new-generation turbines can generate nearly 3 times the energy per megawatt of rated capacity compared to the APWRA's old turbines, repowering the APWRA could reduce mean annual fatality rates by 54% for raptors and 65% for all birds, while more than doubling annual wind-energy generation. Alternatively, the nameplate capacity of a repowered APWRA could be restricted to 209 megawatts to meet current energy generation (about 700 gigawatt-hr), thereby reducing mean annual fatalities by 83% for raptors and 87% for all birds. In lieu of repowering, bird fatalities could be reduced by enforcing operating permits and environmental laws and by the County requiring implementation of the Alameda County Scientific Review Committee's recommendations.  相似文献   

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Bat fatalities at wind facilities have been reported worldwide, and environmental impact assessments depend on searches for carcasses around wind turbines to quantify impacts. Some of the carcasses may go undetected by search teams or be removed by scavengers during search intervals, so these biases must be evaluated and taken into account in fatality estimation. We investigated the influence of different factors on searcher efficiency and scavenger removal in a dry forest area in northeastern Brazil, one of the regions with the highest density of wind turbines in the Neotropics. We conducted searcher efficiency and scavenger removal trials around 34 wind turbines from January 2017 to January 2018. Searcher efficiency was influenced by cover type, season, and carcass size, ranging between 12% for small bats in shrub vegetation during the rainy season and 96% for large bats in absent or sparse vegetation during the dry season. Carcass type and season affected scavenger removal; carcass persistence time was shorter for chicks (1.2 days) than for bats and mice (2.1 days), and the probability of a carcass persisting for a whole day was higher in the rainy season, while the probability of carcass persistence for 7, 14, and 28 days was higher in the dry season. The scavenger community was composed of canids, birds of prey, and insects, with systematic removal of carcasses by the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) throughout the year and by dung beetles in the rainy season. Based on our findings, impact assessments of wind facilities on bats should conduct searcher efficiency trials in all seasons and cover types around wind turbines, using bat carcasses or models of different sizes. Scavenger removal trials should cover all seasons as well, and use mouse carcasses (but not chick carcasses) as surrogates for bats.  相似文献   

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As wind turbine-caused mortality of birds and bats increases with increasing wind energy capacity, accurate fatality estimates are needed to assess effects, identify collision factors, and formulate mitigation. Finding a larger proportion of collision victims reduces the magnitude of adjustment for the proportion not found, thus reducing opportunities for bias. We tested detection dogs in trials of bat and small-bird carcasses placed randomly in routine fatality monitoring at the Buena Vista and Golden Hills Wind Energy projects, California, USA, 2017. Of trial carcasses placed and confirmed available before next-day fatality searches, dogs detected 96% of bats and 90% of small birds, whereas humans at a neighboring wind project detected 6% of bats and 30% of small birds. At Golden Hills dogs found 71 bat fatalities in 55 searches compared to 1 bat found by humans in 69 searches within the same search plots over the same season. Dog detection rates of trial carcasses remained unchanged with distance from turbine, and dogs found more fatalities than did humans at greater distances from turbines. Patterns of fatalities found by dogs within search plots indicated 20% of birds and 4–14% of bats remained undetected outside search plots at Buena Vista and Golden Hills. Dogs also increased estimates of carcass persistence by finding detection trial carcasses that the trial administrator had erroneously concluded were removed. Compared to human searches, dog searches resulted in fatality estimates up to 6.4 and 2.7 times higher for bats and small birds, respectively, along with higher relative precision and >90% lower cost per fatality detection. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.  相似文献   

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ABSTRACT As wind power generation is rapidly expanding worldwide, there is a need to understand whether and how preconstruction surveys can be used to predict impacts and to place turbines to minimize impacts to birds. Wind turbines in the 165-km2 Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA), California, USA, cause thousands of bird fatalities annually, including hundreds of raptors. To test whether avian fatality rates related to rates of utilization and specific behaviors within the APWRA, from March 1998 to April 2000 we performed 1,959 30-minute behavior observation sessions (360° visual scans using binoculars) among 28 nonoverlapping plots varying from 23 ha to 165 ha in area and including 10–67 turbines per plot, totaling 1,165 turbines. Activity levels were highly seasonal and species specific. Only 1% of perch time was on towers of operating turbines, but 22% was on towers of turbines broken, missing, or not operating. Of those species that most often flew through the rotor zone, fatality rates were high for some (e.g., 0.357 deaths/megawatt of rated capacity [MW]/yr for red-tailed hawk [Buteo jamaicensis] and 0.522 deaths/MW/yr for American kestrel [Falco sparverius]) and low for others (e.g., 0.060 deaths/MW/yr for common raven [Corvus corax] and 0.012 deaths/MW/yr for turkey vulture [Cathartes aura]), indicating specific behaviors or visual acuity differentiated these species by susceptibility to collision. Fatality rates did not correlate with utilization rates measured among wind turbine rows or plots for any species except burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). However, mean monthly fatality rates of red-tailed hawks increased with mean monthly utilization rates (r2 = 0.67) and especially with mean monthly flights through turbine rows (r2 = 0.92). Fatality rates increased linearly with rates of utilization (r2 = 0.99) and flights near rotor zones (r2 = 1.00) for large raptor species and with rates of perching (r2 = 0.13) and close flights (r2 = 0.77) for small non-raptor species. Fatalities could be minimized or reduced by shutting down turbines during ≥1 season or in very strong winds or by leaving sufficiently large areas within a wind farm free of wind turbines to enable safer foraging and travel by birds.  相似文献   

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  1. The consequences of bird mortality caused by collisions with wind turbines are increasingly receiving attention. So‐called acceptable mortality limits of populations, that is, those that assume that 1%–5% of additional mortality and the potential biological removal (PBR), provide seemingly clear‐cut methods for establishing the reduction in population viability.
  2. We examine how the application of these commonly used mortality limits could affect populations of the Common Starling, Black‐tailed Godwit , Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Spoonbill, White Stork, Common Tern, and White‐tailed Eagle using stochastic density‐independent and density‐dependent Leslie matrix models.
  3. Results show that population viability can be very sensitive to proportionally small increases in mortality. Rather than having a negligible effect, we found that a 1% additional mortality in postfledging cohorts of our studied populations resulted in a 2%–24% decrease in the population level after 10 years. Allowing a 5% mortality increase to existing mortality resulted in a 9%–77% reduction in the populations after 10 years.
  4. When the PBR method is used in the density‐dependent simulations, the proportional change in the resulting growth rate and carrying capacity was species‐independent and largely determined by the recovery factor (Fr). When Fr = 1, a value typically used for robust populations, additional mortality resulted in a 50%–55% reduction in the equilibrium density and the resulting growth rate. When Fr = 0.1, used for threatened populations, the reduction in the equilibrium density and growth rate was about 5%.
  5. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that by allowing a mortality increase from wind farm collisions according to both criteria, the population impacts of these collisions can still be severe. We propose a simple new method as an alternative that was able to estimate mortality impacts of age‐structured stochastic density‐dependent matrix models.
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