title: Assessing risk to birds from industrial wind energy development via paired resource selection models.
abstract: When wildlife habitat overlaps with industrial development animals may be harmed. Because wildlife and people select resources to maximize biological fitness and economic return, respectively, we estimated risk, the probability of eagles encountering and being affected by turbines, by overlaying models of resource selection for each entity. This conceptual framework can be applied across multiple spatial scales to understand and mitigate impacts of industry on wildlife. We estimated risk to Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from wind energy development in 3 topographically distinct regions of the central Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania (United States) based on models of resource selection of wind facilities (n = 43) and of northbound migrating eagles (n = 30). Risk to eagles from wind energy was greatest in the Ridge and Valley region; all 24 eagles that passed through that region used the highest risk landscapes at least once during low altitude flight. In contrast, only half of the birds that entered the Allegheny Plateau region used highest risk landscapes and none did in the Allegheny Mountains. Likewise, in the Allegheny Mountains, the majority of wind turbines (56%) were situated in poor eagle habitat; thus, risk to eagles is lower there than in the Ridge and Valley, where only 1% of turbines are in poor eagle habitat. Risk within individual facilities was extremely variable; on average, facilities had 11% (SD 23; range = 0-100%) of turbines in highest risk landscapes and 26% (SD 30; range = 0-85%) of turbines in the lowest risk landscapes. Our results provide a mechanism for relocating high-risk turbines, and they show the feasibility of this novel and highly adaptable framework for managing risk of harm to wildlife from industrial development.
authors.affiliation: Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A. and Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, U.S.A.. tricia.miller@mail.wvu.edu.
authors.forename: Tricia A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lanzone
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brandes
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Kieran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Malley
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maisonneuve
authors.forename: Junior
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duerr
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katzner
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D020307:Eagles / Q000502:physiology*; D005843:Geography; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010414:Pennsylvania; D059205:Renewable Energy / Q000592:standards*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014919:Wind
keywords: Golden Eagle; aves; birds; desarrollo de energía eólica; ecología espacial; estudio de riesgo; habitat modeling; modelado de hábitat; risk assessment; spatial ecology; wind energy development; Águila dorada