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Turbines and Terrestrial Vertebrates: Variation in Tortoise Survivorship Between a Wind Energy Facility and an Adjacent Undisturbed Wildland Area in the Desert Southwest (USA)

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Abstract

With the recent increase in utility-scale wind energy development, researchers have become increasingly concerned how this activity will affect wildlife and their habitat. To understand the potential impacts of wind energy facilities (WEF) post-construction (i.e., operation and maintenance) on wildlife, we compared differences in activity centers and survivorship of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) inside or near a WEF to neighboring tortoises living near a wilderness area (NWA) and farther from the WEF. We found that the size of tortoise activity centers varied, but not significantly so, between the WEF (6.25 ± 2.13 ha) and adjacent NWA (4.13 ± 1.23 ha). However, apparent survival did differ significantly between the habitat types: over the 18-year study period apparent annual survival estimates were 0.96 ± 0.01 for WEF tortoises and 0.92 ± 0.02 for tortoises in the NWA. High annual survival suggests that operation and maintenance of the WEF has not caused considerable declines in the adult population over the past two decades. Low traffic volume, enhanced resource availability, and decreased predator populations may influence annual survivorship at this WEF. Further research on these proximate mechanisms and population recruitment would be useful for mitigating and managing post-development impacts of utility-scale wind energy on long-lived terrestrial vertebrates.

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Acknowledgments

Our research was supported by the California Energy Commission Public Interest Energy Research Program (Contract NO: 500-09-020), the California Desert District Office of the Bureau of Land Management, and the Desert Legacy Fund of the California Desert Research Program, and University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry. Research was conducted under permits from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, and the Bureau of Land Management. Charles Yackulic, Jeff Laake and Simon Bonner provided statistical advice. Early manuscript reviews were conducted by Kenneth E. Nussear. Special thanks are given to A. Muth of the Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center of the University of California, Riverside, for providing accommodations during our research. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40546, USA

    Mickey Agha & Steven J. Price

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, MS-9394, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, USA

    Jeffrey E. Lovich, Terence R. Arundel & Meaghan Austin

  3. Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, 201 Chestnut St., Chattanooga, TN, 37402, USA

    Joshua R. Ennen

  4. Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Benjamin Augustine

  5. Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506-0225, USA

    Mason O. Murphy

  6. 19233 Stratford Way, Apple Valley, CA, 92308, USA

    Kathie Meyer-Wilkins

  7. Stantec Consulting, 209 Commerce Parkway, Cottage Grove, WI, 53527, USA

    Curtis Bjurlin

  8. U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 9005, Champaign, IL, 61826, USA

    David Delaney

  9. Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Jessica Briggs

  10. Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA

    Sheila V. Madrak

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  1. Mickey Agha
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  2. Jeffrey E. Lovich
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Correspondence to Steven J. Price.

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Agha, M., Lovich, J.E., Ennen, J.R. et al. Turbines and Terrestrial Vertebrates: Variation in Tortoise Survivorship Between a Wind Energy Facility and an Adjacent Undisturbed Wildland Area in the Desert Southwest (USA). Environmental Management 56, 332–341 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0498-9

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