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HABITAT SELECTION BY PRONGHORN EXPOSED TO WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ON WINTER RANGE
Author
Beck, Jeffrey L.
Taylor, Kaitlyn L.
Albeke, Shannon E.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2015
Body

Increasing demand for wind-generated electricity has raised concerns about potential impacts to wildlife. In some rangeland systems, ungulate populations are increasingly encountering wind-energy facilities in winter. This issue is particularly critical given that these animals already experience harsh environmental conditions and depleted body reserves during this time of year, when activities associated with wind energy may cause further stress. We evaluated pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) response to wind energy development over 3 winters (2010, 2010–2011, 2011–2012) in south-central Wyoming, USA, to better understand potential impacts of wind energy development on wintering ungulates. We obtained data from 47 adult female pronghorn equipped with GPS-transmitters and developed resource selection functions for pronghorn at both the population and individual scales. At the population scale, pronghorn selected for areas closer to wind energy facilities and with lower slopes, variability in snow depth, and density of fences. For 37 individuals whose home ranges encompassed wind energy facilities, coefficients for distance to nearest wind energy facility did not differ from zero across all 3 winters, suggesting wind energy development did not influence individual pronghorn habitat selection. In addition, pronghorn daily net displacement did not increase closer to wind energy facilities (r2 = 0.001–0.012) during each winter. Avoidance behaviors and increased movement rates previously documented in ungulate populations in relation to energy development are commonly associated with increased human presence within oil and gas fields. Low traffic rates observed within wind energy facilities in our study may have contributed to the lack of avoidance observed by pronghorn. However, pronghorn response may deviate from our findings if larger-scale wind energy developments encompass higher levels of human activity (i.e., increased traffic rates and longer construction periods) than those associated with our study.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Sacramento, CA
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts