You are here:
Predicting and Mapping Potential Whooping Crane Stopover Habitat to Guide Site Selection for Wind Energy Projects
Citation:
Belaire, J., Betty J. Kreakie, T. Keitt, AND E. Minor. Predicting and Mapping Potential Whooping Crane Stopover Habitat to Guide Site Selection for Wind Energy Projects. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA, 28(2):541-550, (2014).
Impact/Purpose:
This research builds upon citizen-reported data on bird occurrences to inform conservation planning decisions. Our Habitat models help guide site selection for large projects in migratory flyways. The results illustrate that migrating whooping cranes adhere to a narrow flight path. Additionally, suitable stopover sites appear in areas of low road density and minimal urban cover. Almost 18 000 km2 of land in our study area, Nebraska, may be low-risk for potential wind farms.
Description:
Migration is one of the most poorly understood components of a bird’s life cycle. For that reason, migratory stopover habitats are often not part of conservation planning and may be overlooked when planning new development projects. This project highlights and addresses an overlap of two major conservation planning needs: (1) identifying and protecting suitable stopover habitats within avian migratory flyways, and (2) site selection planning to minimize the conflict between wildlife and the growth of clean, renewable energy sources. We identify environmental and navigational factors that predict suitable stopover habitats for an endangered species, the whooping crane (Grus americana), a species whose migratory flyway overlaps with an area where wind energy development is expected to become increasingly important. We then demonstrate how this information can be used to guide site selection for potential new wind power developments in a state within the flyway (Nebraska) so that conflicts with whooping cranes might be avoided. Our results indicate that a substantial portion of our study area is unsuitable for whooping crane stopover habitat and could be considered relatively low-risk for conflicts between whooping cranes and wind energy development. We suggest that this type of analysis be incorporated into the habitat conservation planning process in areas where incidental take permits are being considered for whooping cranes or other species of concern.
