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USGS2015

Wintering movements and habitat use of Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) in the mid-Atlantic U.S.

Wintering habitat use and migratory pathways are key issues facing sea ducks in the mid-Atlantic U.S. and elsewhere due to the potential for offshore wind energy development. A comprehensive understanding of important winter habitats and environmental characteristics determining sea duck abundance and distribution is paramount in advising marine spatial planning efforts in the region and identifying key resource areas for sea ducks. We captured and tracked 101 Surf Scoters to investigate the spatial patterns, temporal patterns, and environmental variation in migration and winter habitat use through a combination of satellite telemetry data and remotely collected environmental covariate information. We found that Surf Scoters in core-use areas utilized shallow (<40 m) areas within 4.5 km from shore. Resource selection models suggest that other dynamic variables such as sea surface temperatures, productivity, and salinity (and selected interactions among them) may also be important in determining valuable scoter habitat. Migration chronology of birds tracked in this study suggests that Surf Scoters wintering and migrating throughout the mid-Atlantic region could encounter future offshore wind energy facilities between mid-October and early May. Our analyses indicate Surf Scoters tagged along near-shore areas of the mid-Atlantic have a minimal likelihood of overlapping with current Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the mid-Atlantic, though activities associated with construction within WEAs, such as installation of transmission lines or vessel traffic within nearshore areas, or possible development of wind farms closer to shore and outside currently designated WEAs, may have a higher likelihood of overlapping with wintering Surf Scoters in the mid-Atlantic.

Report↗

USGS2022

Selecting auditory alerting stimuli for eagles on the basis of auditory evoked potentials

Development of wind energy facilities results in interactions between wildlife and wind turbines. Raptors, including bald and golden eagles, are among the species known to incur mortality from these interactions. Several alerting technologies have been proposed to mitigate this mortality by increasing eagle avoidance of wind energy facilities. However, there has been little attempt to match signals used as alerting stimuli with the sensory capabilities of target species like eagles. One potential approach to tuning signals is to use sensory physiology to determine what stimuli the target eagle species are sensitive to even in the presence of background noise, thereby allowing the development of a maximally stimulating signal. To this end, we measured auditory evoked potentials of bald and golden eagles to determine what types of sounds eagles can process well, especially in noisy conditions. We found that golden eagles are significantly worse than bald eagles at processing rapid frequency changes in sounds, but also that noise effects on hearing in both species are minimal in response to rapidly changing sounds. Our findings therefore suggest that sounds of intermediate complexity may be ideal both for targeting bald and golden eagle hearing and for ensuring high stimulation in noisy field conditions. These results suggest that the sensory physiology of target species is likely an important consideration when selecting auditory alerting sounds and may provide important insight into what sounds have a reasonable probability of success in field applications under variable conditions and background noise.

Conservation Physiology↗

USGS2016

Mortality monitoring design for utility-scale solar power facilities

Introduction Solar power represents an important and rapidly expanding component of the renewable energy portfolio of the United States (Lovich and Ennen, 2011; Hernandez and others, 2014). Understanding the impacts of renewable energy development on wildlife is a priority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in compliance with Department of Interior Order No. 3285 (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2009) to “develop best management practices for renewable energy and transmission projects on the public lands to ensure the most environmentally responsible development and delivery of renewable energy.” Recent studies examining effects of renewable energy development on mortality of migratory birds have primarily focused on wind energy (California Energy Commission and California Department of Fish and Game, 2007), and in 2012 the FWS published guidance for addressing wildlife conservation concerns at all stages of land-based wind energy development (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2012). As yet, no similar guidelines exist for solar development, and no published studies have directly addressed the methodology needed to accurately estimate mortality of birds and bats at solar facilities. In the absence of such guidelines, ad hoc methodologies applied to solar energy projects may lead to estimates of wildlife mortality rates that are insufficiently accurate and precise to meaningfully inform conversations regarding unintended consequences of this energy source and management decisions to mitigate impacts. Although significant advances in monitoring protocols for wind facilities have been made in recent years, there remains a need to provide consistent guidance and study design to quantify mortality of bats, and resident and migrating birds at solar power facilities (Walston and others, 2015). In this document, we suggest methods for mortality monitoring at solar facilities that are based on current methods used at wind power facilities but adapted for the unique conditions encountered at solar facilities. In particular, unlike at wind-power facilities, the unimpeded access to almost all areas within the facilities, the typically flat terrain, and general absence of thick vegetation allow distance-sampling techniques (Buckland and others, 2001, 2004) to be exploited to advantage at industrial solar sites. These protocols build on the work of Nicolai and others (2011), and as our understanding and techniques for monitoring improve, the methods may be further modified to incorporate improvements in the future. We present case studies based on monitoring methods currently implemented at different utility-scale solar facilities to illustrate how distance-sampling techniques may improve overall detectability without substantially increasing costs. Every facility is unique, and the protocols presented may be adapted based on specific monitoring objectives and conditions at each site. We provide guidance for designing monitoring programs whose objective it is to estimate the total number of bird and bat fatalities occurring at a facility over an extended period of time. We address spatial variation in causes of mortality, as well as potential sources of imperfect detection, for example, animals falling in or moving to unsearched areas, carcasses removed by predators, and carcasses missed by searchers. We suggest methods to estimate and account for each source of imperfect detection. This document focuses on monitoring design only and does not discuss approaches for estimating mortality from collected data. The development of statistically sound estimators relevant to the solar context is a current topic of research, although there are already strong foundations for estimation with distance-sampling methods in similar open, arid environments (Anderson and others, 2001; Freilich and others, 2005). Nonetheless, if protocols described in this document are followed, the resulting data will be adequate and sufficient for estimating mortality using newly formulated estimators.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2021

Flight altitudes of raptors in southern Africa highlight vulnerability of threatened species to wind turbines

Energy infrastructure, particularly for wind power, is rapidly expanding in Africa, creating the potential for conflict with at-risk wildlife populations. Raptor populations are especially susceptible to negative impacts of fatalities from wind energy because individuals tend to be long-lived and reproduce slowly. A major determinant of risk of collision between flying birds and wind turbines is the altitude above ground at which a bird flies. We examine 18,710 observations of flying raptors recorded in southern Africa and we evaluate, for 49 species, the frequency with which they were observed to fly at the general height of a wind turbine rotor-swept zone (50–150 m). Threatened species, especially vultures, were more likely to be observed at turbine height than were other species, suggesting that these raptors are most likely to be affected by wind power development across southern Africa. Our results highlight that threatened raptor species, particularly vultures, might be especially impacted by expanded wind energy infrastructure across southern Africa.

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution↗

USGS2022

Wind turbine wakes can impact down-wind vegetation greenness

Global wind energy has expanded 5-fold since 2010 and is predicted to expand another 8–10-fold over the next 30 years. Wakes generated by wind turbines can alter downwind microclimates and potentially downwind vegetation. However, the design of past studies has made it difficult to isolate the impact of wake effects on vegetation from land cover change. We used hourly wind data to model wake and non-wake zones around 17 wind facilities across the U.S. and compared remotely-sensed vegetation greenness in wake and non-wake zones before and after construction. We located sampling sites only in the dominant vegetation type and in areas that were not disturbed before or after construction. We found evidence for wake effects on vegetation greenness at 10 of 17 facilities for portions of, or the entire growing season. Evidence included statistical significance in Before After Control Impact statistical models, differences >3% between expected and observed values of vegetation greenness, and consistent spatial patterns of anomalies in vegetation greenness relative to turbine locations and wind direction. Wakes induced both increases and decreases in vegetation greenness, which may be difficult to predict prior to construction. The magnitude of wake effects depended primarily on precipitation and to a lesser degree aridity. Wake effects did not show trends over time following construction, suggesting the changes impact vegetation greenness within a growing season, but do not accrue over years. Even small changes in vegetation greenness, similar to those found in this study, have been seen to affect higher trophic levels. Given the rapid global growth of wind energy, and the importance of vegetation condition for agriculture, grazing, wildlife, and carbon storage, understanding how wakes from wind turbines impact vegetation is essential to exploit or ameliorate these effects.

Environmental Research Letters↗

USGS2013

Evaluating the effectiveness of an ultrasonic acoustic deterrent for reducing bat fatalities at wind turbines

Large numbers of bats are killed by wind turbines worldwide and minimizing fatalities is critically important to bat conservation and acceptance of wind energy development. We implemented a 2-year study testing the effectiveness of an ultrasonic acoustic deterrent for reducing bat fatalities at a wind energy facility in Pennsylvania. We randomly selected control and treatment turbines that were searched daily in summer and fall 2009 and 2010. Estimates of fatality, corrected for field biases, were compared between treatment and control turbines. In 2009, we estimated 21–51% fewer bats were killed per treatment turbine than per control turbine. In 2010, we determined an approximate 9% inherent difference between treatment and control turbines and when factored into our analysis, variation increased and between 2% more and 64% fewer bats were killed per treatment turbine relative to control turbines. We estimated twice as many hoary bats were killed per control turbine than treatment turbine, and nearly twice as many silver-haired bats in 2009. In 2010, although we estimated nearly twice as many hoary bats and nearly 4 times as many silver-haired bats killed per control turbine than at treatment turbines during the treatment period, these only represented an approximate 20% increase in fatality relative to the pre-treatment period for these species when accounting for inherent differences between turbine sets. Our findings suggest broadband ultrasound broadcasts may reduce bat fatalities by discouraging bats from approaching sound sources. However, effectiveness of ultrasonic deterrents is limited by distance and area ultrasound can be broadcast, in part due to rapid attenuation in humid conditions. We caution that an operational deterrent device is not yet available and further modifications and experimentation are needed. Future efforts must also evaluate cost-effectiveness of deterrents in relation to curtailment strategies to allow a cost-benefit analysis for mitigating bat fatalities.

Pennsylvania↗

USGS2021

Golden eagle population surveys in the vicinity of the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California, 2014–21

Golden Eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ) are among the highest profile species killed by collisions with wind turbines at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in the northern Diablo Range of west-central California. Understanding the distribution, site occupancy, and nesting status of eagles near the APWRA is needed to identify and minimize possible population-level impacts. We established a broad-scale survey design across a 5,185-km square-kilometer region of the Diablo Range, including the APWRA, to monitor site occupancy, abundance, and reproduction of Golden Eagles. During the study period we identified as many as 230 territorial pairs of Golden Eagles in the study area, up to 21 of which overlapped with the APWRA in any given year. On average, we detected a similar density of pairs at sites surveyed in the APWRA (1 pair per 17.8 km 2 surveyed) relative to sites surveyed in the surrounding region (1 pair per 20.3 km 2 surveyed). In 2020 and 2021, estimates of the proportion of pairs that successfully fledged at least one young (nesting success) were 0.27 and 0.26, respectively, which were above the seven-year average (0.22). On average, eagle pairs monitored in the APWRA had similar reproductive output (0.37 young fledged per pair) relative to pairs monitored outside of the APWRA (0.30 young fledged per pair). We observed a substantially higher proportion of territorial subadult pair members at the APWRA (mean = 29 percent of 16 pairs aged) relative to pairs monitored and aged in the surrounding region (mean = 3 percent of 122 pairs), indicating potentially higher rates of adult mortality or displacement at territories overlapping with the APWRA. Emergent threats to eagles in the study region, including a severe wildfire that impacted over 60 historical breeding territories in 2020, may interact with existing threats to affect population status and thus warrants further investigation. Our study provides wind energy developers, land managers, and regulatory agencies with key information on the spatial distribution, habitat quality, and population status of Golden Eagles needed to promote compatible wind energy production and long-term conservation of this federally protected wildlife species.

California↗

USGS2022

Stochastic agent-based model for predicting turbine-scale raptor movements during updraft-subsidized directional flights

Rapid expansion of wind energy development across the world has highlighted the need to better understand turbine-caused avian mortality. The risk to golden eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ) is of particular concern due to their small population size and conservation status. Golden eagles subsidize their flight in part by soaring in orographic updrafts, which can place them in conflict with wind turbines utilizing the same low-altitude wind resource. Understanding the behavior of soaring raptors in varying atmospheric conditions can therefore be relevant to predicting and mitigating their risk of collision. We present a predictive movement model that simulates individual paths of golden eagles during directional flight (such as migration) that is subsidized by orographic updraft. We modeled eagles in a 50 km by 50 km study area in Wyoming containing three wind power plants with documented golden eagle collisions with turbines. The movement model is applicable to any region where ground elevation is known at turbine scale ( < "> < 50 m) and wind conditions are known at facility scale ( < "> < 3 km). For a given set of atmospheric conditions, the model simulates movements of thousands of orographic soaring eagles to produce a density map quantifying the relative probability of eagle presence. We validated the simulated tracks with GPS telemetry data showing four directional tracks made by golden eagles transiting through the area in 2019 and 2020. For each eagle track, validation was performed using the ratio of the model-simulated eagle presence likelihood with uniform eagle presence and the presence computed using directed random-walk movements. We found that the predictive performance of the model was significantly better (likelihood ratio > "> > 1) for low-altitude movements than high-altitude movements that can involve thermal-soaring. We employed the model to produce seasonal presence maps for migrating golden eagles. We found significant turbine-level variations in eagle presence between northerly and southerly migration routes through the study area. Overall, the proposed model offers a generalizable, probabilistic, and predictive tool to assist wind energy developers, ecologists, wildlife managers, and industry consultants in estimating the potential for conflict between soaring birds and wind turbines, thereby reducing the need for site-specific data on golden eagle movements.

Wyoming↗

USGS2018

Modeling golden eagle‐vehicle collisions to design mitigation strategies

The incidental take of golden eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ) as a result of wind energy development requires some form of compensatory mitigation. Although several options have been proposed, only one has been formerly accepted and implemented, and the lack of options can limit the permit process for wind facilities. We developed a model to estimate numbers of golden eagles that die when struck by vehicles when eagles scavenge road kill to evaluate removal of road‐killed carcasses as an additional mitigation option. Our model estimates vehicle collision rates as a function of eagle densities, road traffic volume, and animal carcass abundance at the scale of a Wyoming, USA, county during fall‐winter, and quantifies the effects of different mitigation strategies, including estimates of uncertainty. We evaluated the plausibility of our model estimates by predicting mortality rates for each county in Wyoming and comparing overall state mortality to current estimates of mortality using derived estimates from expert judgment. We also developed a context‐dependent analysis of potential mitigation credits controlling for carcass number, traffic volume, and background carcass removals. We found that mitigation credit should be highest in areas with greatest number of carcasses. Collision mitigation is a potentially useful addition to the mitigation toolbox for wind energy development or other activities that need to offset predicted golden eagle mortality and satisfy incidental take permit requirements.

Wyoming↗

USGS2021

Eagles enter rotor-swept zones of wind turbines at rates that vary per turbine

There is increasing pressure on wind energy facilities to manage or mitigate for wildlife collisions. However, little information exists regarding spatial and temporal variation in collision rates, meaning that mitigation is most often a blanket prescription. To address this knowledge gap, we evaluated variation among turbines and months in an aspect of collision risk—probability of entry by an eagle into a rotor-swept zone (hereafter, “probability of entry”). We examined 10,222 eagle flight paths identified and recorded by an automated bird monitoring system at a wind energy facility in Wyoming, USA. Probabilities of entry per turbine–month combination were 4.03 times greater in some months than others, ranging 0.15 to 0.62. The overall probability of entry for the riskiest turbine (i.e., the one with the greatest probability of entry) was 2.39 times greater than the least-risky turbine. Our methodology describes large variation across turbines and months in the probability of entry. If subsequently combined with information on other sources of variation (i.e., weather, topography), this approach can identify risky versus safe situations for eagles under which cost of management, curtailment prescriptions, and collision risk can be simultaneously minimized.

Wyoming↗

USGS2014

Spatial mapping and attribution of Wyoming wind turbines, 2012

These data represent locations of wind turbines found within Wyoming as of August 2012. We assigned each wind turbine to a wind farm and, in these data, provide information about each turbine’s potential megawatt output, rotor diameter, hub height, rotor height, the status of the land ownership where the turbine exists, the county each turbine is located in, wind farm power capacity, the number of units currently associated with each wind farm, the wind turbine manufacturer and model, the wind farm developer, the owner of the wind farm, the current purchaser of power from the wind farm, the year the wind farm went online, and the status of its operation. Some of the attributes are estimates based on the information we found via the American Wind Energy Association and other on-line reports. The locations are derived from National Agriculture Imagery Program (2009 and 2012) true color aerial photographs and have a positional accuracy of approximately +/-5 meters. These data will provide a planning tool for wildlife- and habitat-related projects underway at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Fort Collins Science Center and other government and non-government organizations. Specifically, we will use these data to support quantifying disturbances of the landscape as related to wind energy as well as to quantify indirect disturbances to flora and fauna. This data set represents an update to a previous version by O’Donnell and Fancher (2010).

Wyoming↗

USGS2012

Effects of acoustic deterrents on foraging bats

Significant bat mortality events associated with wind energy expansion, particularly in the Appalachians, have highlighted the need for development of possible mitigation practices to reduce or prevent strike mortality. Other than increasing turbine cut-in speed, acoustic deterrents probably hold the greatest promise for reducing bat mortality. However, acoustic deterrent effectiveness and practicality has not been experimentally examined and is limited to site-specific case studies. Accordingly, we used a crossover experimental design with prior control period to show that bat activity was reduced 17.1 percent by the deployment of ultrasonic deterrents placed around gauged watershed weir ponds on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia. We caution that while our results should not be extrapolated to the scope of a typical wind energy production facility, the results warrant further research on the use of acoustic deterrents to reduce bat fatalities.

West Virginia↗

USGS2026

Integrating climate and anthropogenic dynamics can inform multifaceted management for declining mule deer populations

Wildlife and their habitats face profound challenges from climate and landscape-scale changes that extend beyond the influence and time horizon of most biologists and land managers. In this changing environment, long-term datasets can enhance assessments of how demographic trends respond to interactions among local (e.g., habitat restoration decisions) and broad extent drivers, including energy development, to shape wildlife populations. Although many studies evaluate habitat selection or demographics for a single population, our multipopulation, multiscale study quantifies the influence of local management actions given broader environmental forces using both immediate and lagged effects. This approach may be particularly important for species with high site fidelity that may have less adaptive capacity, including mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ), which are experiencing widespread population declines. We analyzed a 40-year (1980–2019) dataset for 37 mule deer populations across Wyoming, USA, to test hypotheses about and quantify the relative influence of conditions within winter use areas on annual rates of juvenile recruitment. Recruitment has been strongly affected by multiple factors largely beyond the control of managers. Land cover (agriculture and shrubland) had the largest positive effects on recruitment, with estimates more than twice the magnitude of other variables, but also had limited presence in some winter use areas. The next strongest effect sizes were shared by energy developments (including oil/gas and wind energy) and climatic conditions, which, except for wind turbines, had broad distributions across winter use areas. Recruitment increased with higher mean winter temperatures and summer precipitation, but declined with wind, oil and gas developments, cumulative drought, and wildfire. Expected increases in drought and decreases in summer precipitation may constrain options to sustain mule deer populations. Although mule deer recruitment may sometimes be enhanced through habitat restoration, effects varied with treatment type, habitat type, and time since treatment. Given large constraining effects of temperature and drought, supporting drought resiliency for important habitat may be useful. Our results can be used to weigh the relative strength of threats and the value of restoration actions, interpret historic demographic change, prioritize populations for conservation, and optimize options for wildlife habitat management.

Wyoming↗

USGS2021

Influencing activity of bats by dimly lighting wind turbine surfaces with ultraviolet light

Wind energy producers need deployable devices for wind turbines that prevent bat fatalities. Based on the speculation that bats approach turbines after visually mistaking them for trees, we tested a potential light-based deterrence method. It is likely that the affected bats see ultraviolet (UV) light at low intensities. Here, we present the results of a multi-month experiment to cast dim, flickering UV light across wind turbine surfaces at night. Our objectives were to refine and test a practical system for dimly UV-illuminating turbines while testing whether the experimental UV treatment influenced the activity of bats, birds, and insects. We mounted upward-facing UV light arrays on turbines and used thermal-imaging cameras to quantify the presence and activity of night-flying animals. The results demonstrated that the turbines can be lit to the highest reaches of the blades with “invisible” UV light, and the animal responses to such experimental treatment can be concurrently monitored. The UV treatment did not significantly change nighttime bat, insect, or bird activity at the wind turbine. Our findings show how observing flying animals with thermal cameras at night can help test emerging technologies intended to variably affect their behaviors around wind turbines.

Animals↗

USGS1987

A Pennsylvanian-age terrestrial storm deposit: using plant fossils to characterize the history and process of sediment accumulation

A thin black shale overlying the B-coal underclay (in the Middle Pennsylvanian post-Pottsville strata of the Bernice Basin) contains a compression flora composed of large, prostrate, unidirectionally oriented lycopod trunks and randomly oriented pteridosperm stems. Analyses of modern log accumulations indicate that unidirectional trunk orientations can be produced by riverflood currents, volcanic blasts, and most high-energy windstorms. Since there are neither fluvial sediments nor ash deposits associated with the Bernice assemblage, this deposit is believed to have been formed by high-energy winds. Furthermore, this deposit is interpreted to be in situ because storm winds (and volcanic blasts) rarely have sufficient energy for the physical transport of large, intact tree trunks. The sedimentary history of the B-coal underclay can be determined from the successional changes in the species and plant part compositions (leaves, seeds, branches, trunks, etc.) of the preserved plant material. The underclay is an accretionary floodplain soil which accumulated as discrete increments during episodic floods. The sediments deposited with each flood incorporated the litter layer of the lycopod-pteridosperm forest which occupied this site. Ordinarily, the flood water would recede, and renewed root growth would destroy the primary sedimentary structures and the newly incorporated organic material. Because the bedding and forest litter are preserved in the top 5 cm of the underclay, root growth and silt deposition must have been terminated by the last flooding event. The site eventually became permanently inundated, and an organic-rich mud began to accumulate in the resulting floodplain lake. The lycopod-pteridosperm forest drowned and, at some later time, was blown down into the lake. The trunks are preserved on a single bedding plane in a 2-cm-thick, organic-rich lacustrine black shale. Continued organic accumulation in the lake resulted in the accumulation of a hypautochthonous peat which eventually was colonized by a peat-forming flora.

Journal of Sedimentary Petrology↗

USGS2017

U.S. Geological Survey—Energy and wildlife research annual report for 2017

Introduction Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems provide valuable services to humans and are a source of clean water, energy, raw materials, and productive soils. The Nation’s food supply is more secure because of wildlife. For example, native pollinators enhance agricultural crops, and insect-eating bats provide pest control services worth billions of dollars to farmers annually. Fish and wildlife are also vital to a vibrant outdoor recreation and tourism industry. Recreational activities, such as hunting, shooting, boating, and angling, generated \$1.1 billion in excise taxes paid to State wildlife agencies in 2017. National parks, wildlife refuges, and monuments accounted for $35 billion in economic output and 318,000 jobs nationwide in 2016. Additional economic benefits are generated from the use and enjoyment of wildlife in State-owned lands and waters. Although the United States is rich in natural resources, human activity continues to place new pressures on fish and wildlife and the habitats they rely on. The United States became the world’s top producer of petroleum and natural gas products in 2012, surpassing Russia’s natural gas production levels in 2009 and Saudi Arabia’s petroleum production in 2013. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that the demand for liquid fuel, natural gas, and renewable energy will show strong growth in the next 20 years. Wind energy has demonstrated consistent growth since 2007 with now more than 53,000 wind turbines contributing to power grids in 41 States, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Solar energy has seen rapid growth since 2013 and made up nearly one-third of the total electricity generation additions in 2016. Yet as our Nation works to advance energy security and sustain wildlife, some conflicts have surfaced. Impacts of an expanding energy infrastructure include fragmentation and loss of habitat as well as mortality of birds, bats, fish, and other animals from interactions with energy generation facilities. Because energy development can often occur in wildlife habitats, ecological science can help guide project siting and operational decisions to areas that present the lowest risk to wildlife and energy developers. To address these challenges and make the most of new opportunities, the U.S. Geological Survey is producing innovative science to develop workable solutions that can help sustain wildlife and the habitat they rely upon, while allowing informed development.

Circular↗

USGS2011

The development of an EDSS: Lessons learned and implications for DSS research

The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project is focused on providing renewable energy (RE) planning resources to the public. Examples include wind, solar, and hydro assessments. SWERA DSS consists of three major components. First, SWERA 'Product Archive' provides for a discovery DSS upon which users can find and access renewable energy data and supporting models. Second, the 'Renewable Resource EXplorer' (RREX) component serves as a web-based, GIS analysis tool for viewing RE resource data available through the SWERA Product Archive. Third, the SWERA web service provides computational access to the data available in the SWERA spatial database through a location based query, and is also utilized in the RREX component. We provide a discussion of various design decisions used in the construction of this EDSS, followed by project experiences and implications for EDSS and broader DSS research.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2020

Habitat affinities and at-sea ranging behaviors among main Hawaiian Island seabirds: Breeding seabird telemetry, 2013–2016

Recent Hawaiʻi state clean energy policy mandates and federal interest in developing offshore renewable energy resources have prompted unsolicited lease requests for offshore wind energy infrastructure (OWEI) to be located in ocean waters off Hawaiʻi. This study describing at-sea ranging behaviors for five seabirds was intended to provide new information on Hawaiian breeding seabird distribution at sea, habitat utilization, and ranging behaviors within near-island waters and throughout outer continental shelf (OCS) waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). We also estimate the percentage of time the five study species spent flying at altitudes equivalent to an expected rotor-swept-zone (RSZ; 30–194 m) for an offshore wind turbine and discuss potential collision risk from OWEI to the seabirds studied here. The MHI supports important seabird breeding populations and individual seabirds can now be equipped with a wide-variety of data loggers and location tracking devices that can provide complex, high-resolution information on movement patterns at sea. In this study, we used GPS loggers and temperature-depth-recorders (TDRs) to examine the at-sea distributions and ranging behaviors of five abundantly breeding species in the MHI: Red-tailed Tropicbird, Laysan Albatross, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Brown Booby, and Red-footed Booby. We tracked these breeding seabirds from 14 different sites throughout the MHI; study colonies were located on the main islands of Maui, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, and on associated islets. We used the Residence in Space and Time (RST) algorithm to classify behavior into resting, transiting, and searching/foraging (Torres et al. 2017). We used GPS altitude measurements to examine species-specific flight height and to estimate time spent flying in the RSZ. We mapped rediscretized tracking data for seabirds at each study colony according to behavioral class and trip type (when applicable) using kernel density estimates. During 2014–2016, we obtained GPS and TDR data from 59 and 34 Red-tailed Tropicbirds, respectively. Taken together, individuals revealed a bimodal (short- [~3 h, <100 km range] and long- [>3 d, >800 km range]) trip foraging strategy. While ranging at sea, we estimated that Red-tailed Tropicbirds spend 70.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 70.1–71.0%) of flight time in the RSZ. TDR data for tropicbirds was noisy and we could not reliably identify dives. During 2014 and 2016, we obtained GPS data from 35 Laysan Albatrosses nesting on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu. Individuals during the mid- to late-chick rearing period engaged in a bimodal short- (<6 d, <400 km range) and long- (>6 d, >2,000 km range) trip foraging strategy. While ranging at sea, we estimated that Laysan Albatrosses spend 2.57% (95% CI 2.50–2.64%) of flight time in the RSZ. During 2013–2015, we obtained GPS and TDR data from 313 and 55 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, respectively. Considering all the data together, individuals revealed a multi-modal trip duration foraging strategy consisting of intra-day (<24 h, <100 km range), short (<4 d, ~200 km range), and long (>4 d, ~100–400 km range) trips. While ranging at sea, we estimated that Wedge-tailed Shearwaters spend 5.20% (95% CI 5.13–5.27%) of flight time in the RSZ. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters dove to a mean (± SD) depth of 1.78 ± 1.35 m (median = 1.38 m); the deepest dive recorded was to 10.06 m. The mean dive duration for Wedge-tailed Shearwaters was 3.12 ± 3.44 s (median = 1.80 s). During 2014–2015, we obtained GPS and TDR data from 42 and 37 Brown Boobies, respectively. Almost all foraging trips (97%) were single-day trips and we did not detect any bimodality in the distribution of single-day trip durations. Brown Boobies foraged relatively close to their colony (<60 km range) and focused their at-sea use in nearshore, coastal waters off Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. While foraging at sea, we estimated that Brown Boobies spend 3.41% (95% CI 3.16–3.67%) of flight time in the RSZ

Hawaii↗