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Estimating offsets for avian displacement effects of anthropogenic impacts Active

By Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center August 27, 2019

The avian-impact offset method (AIOM) quantifies the amount of habitat needed to provide equivalent biological value for birds displaced by energy and transportation infrastructure. The AIOM can be applied in situations where avian displacement (i.e., behavioral avoidance) requires compensatory mitigation. The AIOM is based on the ability to define five metrics: impact distance, impact area, pre-impact density, percent displacement, and offset density. Our work provides four products: 1) displacement rates from wind-energy facilities for waterfowl and grassland birds, 2) an explanation and demonstration of the AIOM using examples for wind and oil infrastructure, including cases in which the biological value of offset habitat (i.e., habitat acquired to fulfill mitigation requirements) is similar to the impacted habitat and when biological value is dissimilar, 3) a worksheet for AIOM users to apply to their own projects, and 4) a geospatial AIOM Decision Support Tool that automates Geographic Information System processes for identifying biologically equivalent habitats for mitigation fulfillment, as well as for forecasting mitigation costs of proposed developments.

Below are data or web applications associated with this project.

Effects of wind-energy facilities on breeding grassland bird distributions - data release

This data release contains breeding-bird densities in native mixed-grass prairie collected from 2003 to 2012 at and adjacent to wind farms in North and South Dakota, USA, for one year prior to turbine construction and several years post-construction. One dataset contains breeding-bird densities per 100 ha by distance from turbines for categories of 0-100 m, 100-200 m, 200-300 m, and greater than 3
By
Energy & Wildlife, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Below are publications associated with this project.

Effects of wind-energy facilities on grassland bird distributions

The contribution of renewable energy to meet worldwide demand continues to grow. Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable sectors, but new wind facilities are often placed in prime wildlife habitat. Long-term studies that incorporate a rigorous statistical design to evaluate the effects of wind facilities on wildlife are rare. We conducted a before-after-control-impact (BACI) assessment
By
Ecosystems, Energy & Wildlife, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory

Estimating offsets for avian displacement effects of anthropogenic impacts

Biodiversity offsetting, or compensatory mitigation, is increasingly being used in temperate grassland ecosystems to compensate for unavoidable environmental damage from anthropogenic developments such as transportation infrastructure, urbanization, and energy development. Pursuit of energy independence in the United States will expand domestic energy production. Concurrent with this increased gr
By
Ecosystems, Energy & Wildlife, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center