Increasing concern for environmental sustainability, the demand for domestic energy, and an impetus on reducing dependence on fossil fuels have led to substantial investment in renewable energies including wind energy over the last 2 decades. Increases in wind energy development are especially noticeable in prairie habitats with high wind capacity. This has raised concerns over effects on grouse species including greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). We monitored 346 female greater sage‐grouse via telemetry from 2009 to 2014 in southeastern Wyoming, within a control area and an area influenced by a wind energy development to estimate the potential effects of wind energy infrastructure on greater sage‐grouse habitat selection and demography. We developed resource selection functions by comparing habitats used to habitats available relative to the wind energy development during the nesting, brood‐rearing, and summer periods. In addition, we used survival models to estimate the variability in nest, brood, and female survival relative to the wind energy development. The relative probability of greater sage‐grouse selecting brood‐rearing and summer habitats decreased as percentage of surface disturbance associated with the facility infrastructure increased. We did not, however, detect a negative effect of the wind energy facility on nest site selection or on nest, brood‐rearing, or female survival during the study. Future wind energy developments should consider the potential effects of wind energy development on sage‐grouse habitat selection patterns and survival parameters ≤1.20 km from any occupied sage‐grouse nesting, brood‐rearing, or summer habitats. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.
Wildlife-vehicle collisions pose a major safety concern to motorists and can be a significant source of mortality for wildlife. Additionally, roadways can impede movements and reduce habitat connectivity. For migratory ungulates, these problems can be exacerbated when roadways bisect migration routes, as is the case in Southwest Wyoming, USA, where a 21-km section of U.S. Highway 30 overlaps with a critical winter range and migration route used by thousands of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). In an effort to reduce deer-vehicle collisions (DVC) and maintain migratory connectivity, the Wyoming Department of Transportation installed 7 concrete box-culvert underpasses with continuous game-proof fencing between each crossing structure. To evaluate the effectiveness of this mitigation project, we used remote cameras to quantify the number of mule deer that used the underpasses, estimate passage rates through time, and compare rates of DVCs before and after underpass construction. Through 3 years of monitoring (which encompassed autumn migration [2008, 2009, and 2010], winter use, and spring migration [2009, 2010, and 2011] for 3 migration cycles), we documented 49,146 mule deer move through the underpasses. Passage rates of deer approaching underpasses steadily increased from 54% in Year 1 to 92% in Year 3. Peak movements during the autumn migration occurred in mid-December, while peak spring movements were in mid-March and early May. Underpass and fence installation effectively reduced DVCs by 81%. Had fence gates remained closed and cattle guards clear of snow, DVCs could be eliminated altogether. Our results suggest that underpasses, combined with game-proof fencing, can improve highway safety for motorists while providing safe and effective movement corridors for large populations of migratory mule deer. ß 2012 The Wildlife Society.
Greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are experiencing population declines across much of their current range. Population declines are directly related to changes in greater sage‐grouse fitness parameters including nest and brood success, and female survival. Reduced fitness in greater sage‐grouse populations has been attributed to a decrease in habitat suitability caused by anthropogenic disturbance factors including energy extraction activities. The increased demand for renewable energy has raised concerns about the impacts of infrastructure associated with wind energy development on greater sage‐grouse populations. We hypothesized that greater sage‐grouse nest, brood, and adult survival would decrease with increasing proximity to wind energy infrastructure, particularly wind turbines. We monitored 95 nests, 31 broods, and identified 45 mortalities from 116 female greater sage‐grouse from 2009 to 2010 at a wind energy facility in south‐central Wyoming, USA. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to model nest survival and used the Andersen–Gill survival model to estimate female and brood survival relative to vegetation cover, topography, and distance to wind turbines and other anthropogenic features on the landscape. Results from our survival analysis indicated that the risk of a nest or brood failing decreased by 7.1% and 38.1%, respectively, with every 1.0 km increase in distance from nearest turbine. We detected no variation in female survival relative to wind energy infrastructure. Decreased nest and brood survival was likely the result of increased predation, which may have been a product of anthropogenic development and habitat fragmentation. Future wind energy developments should consider the increased risk of nest and brood failure within habitats of close proximity to turbines. Identifying nesting and brood‐rearing habitats within close proximity to proposed wind energy developments is critical when estimating potential impacts to overall population fitness. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.
1. Our knowledge of migration ecology has progressed quickly in concert with technological advances that collect fine-scale movement data through time. We now know that migration plays a critical role in the annual nutritional cycle of large herbivores and that sustaining functional migratory routes is key to long-term conservation. Yet, we lack basic information on whether one migratory route may function better than another, or more specifically, if choosing one route over another has fitness consequences -knowledge that could help inform conservation and restoration efforts.2. Here, we examined how a suite of migratory parameters influenced the survival of mule deer Odocoileus hemionus that shared a common winter range in New Mexico, USA, but migrated to various summer ranges in Colorado, USA. We used a Cox proportional hazard model and longitudinal global positioning system data collected over a 7-year period to investigate whether the mortality risk of 66 deer was affected by choice of migratory route, summer range, migration distance, speed or the number of administrative boundaries each route crossed.3. We found mule deer survival was not influenced by migratory distance, speed or number of administrative boundaries, but was strongly affected by the choice of migratory route and summer range. The magnitude of these effects was surprisingly large, doubling or tripling mortality risk. Cumulative survival rates showed that regardless of summer range, individuals migrating along high-use exterior routes had cumulative survival rates approximately 30% lower than individuals migrating along high-use interior routes. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence that a mammal's choice of migration route can influence its probability of survival. Synthesis and applications.Our finding that large herbivores may experience up to three times higher mortality risk by using a different migratory route reveals a novel link between migration and demography. Importantly, our results also suggest that spatially explicit model parameters and predictions could help in the conservation and restoration of migratory populations by identifying specific migratory routes or seasonal ranges that reduce survival.
Greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a landscape‐level species that requires large tracts of intact sagebrush (Artemisia spp.). Loss of functional habitat resulting from increased demand for energy generation, transmission, and distribution within greater sage‐grouse habitats in the western United States has the potential to negatively affect this species. We monitored 346 radio‐marked female greater sage‐grouse from 2009 to 2014 to evaluate the potential effects of 27‐m‐tall, 230‐kilovolt (kV) wood‐pole, H‐frame transmission lines on greater sage‐grouse habitat selection and demography. We modeled the effect of the transmission lines in 2 different study areas simultaneously using consistent habitat data. Previous research in our study areas suggested that the effect of transmission lines was potentially confounded by other habitat features. We accounted for these potential confounding effects by estimating habitat suitability before estimating the effect of transmission lines. We combined habitat selection and demography results to estimate habitat function relative to transmission lines and inform management recommendations. Overall, we found evidence that transmission lines had a negative effect on greater sage‐grouse habitat selection and survival within our study areas over 6 years, but the magnitude of this effect varied by habitat suitability and proximity to occupied leks. The effect of transmission lines on habitat function extended 1.0 km from a transmission line in habitats within 3.1 km of an occupied lek compared to 0.50 km from a transmission line in habitats beyond 3.1 km from occupied leks. Based on these results, we suggest future power line placement relative to sage‐grouse nesting, brood‐rearing, and summer habitats consider potential effects to sage‐grouse habitat selection and demography. Effects can be minimized by incorporating design features that discourage avian predator perching and siting power lines in habitats with lower suitability and, in our study area, habitats beyond 3.1 km from occupied leks. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.
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