Sage-Grouse and Wind Energy: Biology, Habits, and Potential Effects from Development

Abstract

SummaryProposed development of domestic energy resources, including wind energy, is expected to impact the sagebrush steppe ecosystem in the western United States. The greater sage-grouse relies on habitats within this ecosystem for survival, yet very little is known about how wind energy development may affect sage-grouse. The purpose of this report is to inform organizations of the impacts wind energy development could have on greater sage-grouse populations and identify information needed to fill gaps in knowledge.Sage-grouse are highly dependent on sagebrush-dominated landscapes for all phases of their life history. Much of their current range overlaps with wind power resources characterized as superb to good across 11 western states. Sage grouse may utilize different habitats during different seasons and usually require a large home range. However, they are habitual, using specific locales during all seasons, and are sensitive to habitat disturbance. Sage-grouse populations have generally been in decline since the mid1960s; the species is currently under review for listing as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Very little is known about wind energy and sage-grouse, but oil-and gas-field developments within the range of the sage-grouse often have caused measureable effects to their populations. Activities and disturbance related to both energy development scenarios are believed to pose some similar threats to the grouse. Sage-grouse populations typically decline following oil and gas development, and birds have been displaced from habitat near infrastructure and locations with human. Notably, it has been shown that female grouse nesting in developed areas had lower annual survival rates. Chick mortality rates also were higher within sight of oil wells.It is not known to what extent the development of wind energy resources will affect sage-grouse populations. Information on local and landscape-level impacts is needed. Before-after control-impact studies are needed to determine impacts to grouse, and information gained could be used within an adaptive management strategy. Research protocols and efforts should be developed collaboratively between industry, resource management, and the research community.v

Landscape features and weather influence nest survival of a ground-nesting bird of conservation concern, the greater sage-grouse, in human-altered environments

“…Some alterations that historically have contributed to the population decline in sagegrouse include predation, pesticides, sagebrush removal, grazing, and fire (Connelly and Braun 1997). More recent declines in population numbers of sage-grouse and other sagebrush-obligate species in Wyoming have been linked to large-scale development of the landscape for energy, particularly underground reserves of oil and natural gas (Lyon and Anderson 2003;Walker et al 2007;Becker et al 2009;Harju et al 2010;Gilbert and Chalfoun 2011). This study focuses on a sensitive sagebrush-obligate species in an environment undergoing human development (i.e., oil and gas development) that has experienced population declines range-wide (Connelly and Braun 1997;Schroeder et al 2004) and is exposed to a diversity of predators.…”

Conservation and restoration of sagebrush ecosystems and sage-grouse: An assessment of USDA Forest Service Science

“…. High-quality wind resources overlap the range of sage-grouse, particularly in the eastern portion of the range (Becker et al 2009). FS scientists have expertise to evaluate effects of wind energy development on populations and habitat, and research on these effects on GRSG habitat use and movements is underway in Wyoming (Mark Rumble, personal communication, USDA Forest Service, Rapid City, SD, 2015;Schreiber et al 2015a,b).…”

A spatially explicit individual-based modeling approach to evaluate the cumulative effects of wind energy development on the greater sage-grouse. Final Report

“…We modeled two potential effects of wind energy infrastructure on sage-grouse: reductions in the survivorship of individuals and reductions in habitat suitability. We gathered information on the potential impact of energy infrastructure on sage-grouse survivorship from multiple sources (Becker et al 2009;Kaiser 2006). Information about the impact of various infrastructures on sage-grouse is very limited in the existing literature.…”

“…We modeled these infrastructure effects as a distance-related proportional decrease in survivorship (i.e., survivorship increases with distance from infrastructure). A linear function was developed based on published data indicating the quantitative relationship between proximity to infrastructure and survivorship derived from observed effects of infrastructure on survivorship for three age classes at different distances (Becker et al 2009;Kaiser 2006) (Figure 10). We assumed a linear relationship between survivorship and distance for simplicity, and the slope value was determined from the points that make up the relationship.…”