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Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats

Wind energy is a growing source of renewable energy with a 3-fold increase in use globally over the last decade. However, wind turbines cause bat mortality, especially for migratory species. The southwest United States has high bat species diversity and is an important area for migratory species, al...

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Autores principales: Starbuck, Clarissa A., Dickson, Brett G., Chambers, Carol L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9165840/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35657796
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268573
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author Starbuck, Clarissa A.
Dickson, Brett G.
Chambers, Carol L.
author_facet Starbuck, Clarissa A.
Dickson, Brett G.
Chambers, Carol L.
author_sort Starbuck, Clarissa A.
collection PubMed
description Wind energy is a growing source of renewable energy with a 3-fold increase in use globally over the last decade. However, wind turbines cause bat mortality, especially for migratory species. The southwest United States has high bat species diversity and is an important area for migratory species, although little is known about their seasonal distribution. To examine potential risk to bats in areas proposed for wind energy development, we characterized bat occupancy spatially and temporally across northern Arizona, identifying use during summer when bats are reproductively active and fall during the migratory season. Our objectives were to determine occupancy of migratory species and species of greatest conservation need and develop a probability of occupancy map for species to identify areas of potential conflict with wind energy development. We selected 92 sites in 10 clusters with potential for development and used acoustic detectors to sample bats in the summer and fall of 2016 and 2017 for 6 nights per site per year. We predicted response of migratory bat species and species of special concern to 9 landscape variables using Program MARK. During summer, higher densities of forest on the landscape resulted in a higher probability of occupancy of migratory species such as hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus), silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans), big free-tailed bats (Nyctinomops macrotis), and species of conservation need such as spotted bats (Euderma maculatum). During the fall, higher concentration of valleys on the landscape predicted occupancy of hoary bats, big free-tailed bats, and spotted bats. High bat occupancy in the fall was also associated with higher elevation and close proximity to forests. We recommend that wind turbines be placed in open, flat grasslands away from forested landscapes and concentrations of valleys or other topographic variation.
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spelling pubmed-91658402022-06-05 Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats Starbuck, Clarissa A. Dickson, Brett G. Chambers, Carol L. PLoS One Research Article Wind energy is a growing source of renewable energy with a 3-fold increase in use globally over the last decade. However, wind turbines cause bat mortality, especially for migratory species. The southwest United States has high bat species diversity and is an important area for migratory species, although little is known about their seasonal distribution. To examine potential risk to bats in areas proposed for wind energy development, we characterized bat occupancy spatially and temporally across northern Arizona, identifying use during summer when bats are reproductively active and fall during the migratory season. Our objectives were to determine occupancy of migratory species and species of greatest conservation need and develop a probability of occupancy map for species to identify areas of potential conflict with wind energy development. We selected 92 sites in 10 clusters with potential for development and used acoustic detectors to sample bats in the summer and fall of 2016 and 2017 for 6 nights per site per year. We predicted response of migratory bat species and species of special concern to 9 landscape variables using Program MARK. During summer, higher densities of forest on the landscape resulted in a higher probability of occupancy of migratory species such as hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus), silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans), big free-tailed bats (Nyctinomops macrotis), and species of conservation need such as spotted bats (Euderma maculatum). During the fall, higher concentration of valleys on the landscape predicted occupancy of hoary bats, big free-tailed bats, and spotted bats. High bat occupancy in the fall was also associated with higher elevation and close proximity to forests. We recommend that wind turbines be placed in open, flat grasslands away from forested landscapes and concentrations of valleys or other topographic variation. Public Library of Science 2022-06-03 /pmc/articles/PMC9165840/ /pubmed/35657796 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268573 Text en © 2022 Starbuck et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Starbuck, Clarissa A.
Dickson, Brett G.
Chambers, Carol L.
Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats
title Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats
title_full Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats
title_fullStr Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats
title_full_unstemmed Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats
title_short Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats
title_sort informing wind energy development: land cover and topography predict occupancy for arizona bats
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9165840/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35657796
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268573
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