Collision sensitive niche profile of the worst affected bird-groups at wind
turbine structures in the Federal State of Brandenburg, Germany
#MMPMID29491479
Bose A
; Dürr T
; Klenke RA
; Henle K
Sci Rep
2018[Feb]; 8
(1
): 3777
PMID29491479
show ga
Biodiversity-related impacts at wind energy facilities have increasingly become a
cause of conservation concern, central issue being the collision of birds.
Utilizing spatial information of their carcass detections at wind turbines (WTs),
we quantified the detections in relation to the metric distances of the
respective turbines to different land-use types. We used ecological niche factor
analysis (ENFA) to identify combinations of land-use distances with respect to
the spatial allocation of WTs that led to higher proportions of collisions among
the worst affected bird-groups: Buntings, Crows, Larks, Pigeons and Raptors. We
also assessed their respective similarities to the collision phenomenon by
checking for overlaps amongst their distance combinations. Crows and Larks showed
the narrowest "collision sensitive niche"; a part of ecological niche under
higher risk of collisions with turbines, followed by that of Buntings and
Pigeons. Raptors had the broadest niche showing significant overlaps with the
collision sensitive niches of the other groups. This can probably be attributed
to their larger home range combined with their hunting affinities to open
landscapes. Identification of collision sensitive niches could be a powerful tool
for landscape planning; helping avoid regions with higher risks of collisions for
turbine allocations and thus protecting sensitive bird populations.
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