The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development

Conserv Biol. 2024 Jan 5:e14191. doi: 10.1111/cobi.14191. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBird populations are declining globally. Wind and solar energy can reduce emissions of fossil fuels that drive anthropogenic climate change, yet renewable-energy production represents a potential threat to bird species. Surveys to assess potential effects at renewable-energy facilities are exclusively local, and the geographic extent encompassed by birds killed at these facilities is largely unknown, which creates challenges for minimizing and mitigating the population-level and cumulative effects of these fatalities. We performed geospatial analyses of stable hydrogen isotope data obtained from feathers of 871 individuals of 24 bird species found dead at solar- and wind-energy facilities in California (USA). Most species had individuals with a mix of origins, ranging from 23% to 98% nonlocal. Mean minimum distances to areas of likely origin for nonlocal individuals were as close as 97 to >1250 km, and these minimum distances were larger for species found at solar-energy facilities in deserts than at wind-energy facilities in grasslands (Cohen's d = 6.5). Fatalities were drawn from an estimated 30-100% of species' desingated ranges, and this percentage was significantly smaller for species with large ranges found at wind facilities (Pearson's r = -0.67). Temporal patterns in the geographic origin of fatalities suggested that migratory movements and nonmigratory movements, such as disper...

Source: Conservation Biology - January 5, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Hannah B Vander Zanden David M Nelson Tara J Conkling Taber D Allison Jay E Diffendorfer Thomas V Dietsch Amy L Fesnock Scott R Loss Patricia A Ortiz Robin Paulman Krysta H Rogers Peter M Sanzenbacher Todd E Katzner Source Type: research