Compensatory mitigation is applied in grassland and wetland ecosystems to offset environmental damage from disturbances such as energy development. Energy facilities continue to proliferate across the United States, yet implementation of mitigation tools to ameliorate habitat loss or behavioural effects on wildlife is rare. NPWRC scientists conducted a 10-year Before-After, Control-Impact (BACI) study that indicated avian behavioral avoidance and thus reduced use of habitat near wind infrastructure—research notable for its scope, duration, and use of a BACI design. To quantify and compensate for loss in value of breeding habitat, NPWRC and USFWS scientists developed the Avian-Impact Offset Method (AIOM) to estimate the amount of habitat needed to support displaced birds. Scientists developed 3 other tools: a tutorial that describes applying a BACI design to field research on behavioral displacement and demonstrates the AIOM using examples for wind and oil infrastructure, a worksheet for AIOM users to apply to their own projects, and a geospatial Decision Support Tool that identifies habitats for mitigation fulfillment and forecasts mitigation costs of proposed developments.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
10-year (2003-2012) bird and vegetation data collected at wind facilities in North Dakota and South Dakota
Effects of wind-energy facilities on breeding grassland bird distributions - data release
Below are publications associated with this project.
Understanding the Avian-Impact Offset Method—A tutorial
Limited land base and competing land uses force societal tradeoffs when siting energy development
Migrating whooping cranes avoid wind-energy infrastructure when selecting stopover habitat
Estimating offsets for avian displacement effects of anthropogenic impacts
Modeling effects of crop production, energy development and conservation-grassland loss on avian habitat
Effects of wind-energy facilities on grassland bird distributions
- Overview
Compensatory mitigation is applied in grassland and wetland ecosystems to offset environmental damage from disturbances such as energy development. Energy facilities continue to proliferate across the United States, yet implementation of mitigation tools to ameliorate habitat loss or behavioural effects on wildlife is rare. NPWRC scientists conducted a 10-year Before-After, Control-Impact (BACI) study that indicated avian behavioral avoidance and thus reduced use of habitat near wind infrastructure—research notable for its scope, duration, and use of a BACI design. To quantify and compensate for loss in value of breeding habitat, NPWRC and USFWS scientists developed the Avian-Impact Offset Method (AIOM) to estimate the amount of habitat needed to support displaced birds. Scientists developed 3 other tools: a tutorial that describes applying a BACI design to field research on behavioral displacement and demonstrates the AIOM using examples for wind and oil infrastructure, a worksheet for AIOM users to apply to their own projects, and a geospatial Decision Support Tool that identifies habitats for mitigation fulfillment and forecasts mitigation costs of proposed developments.
- Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
10-year (2003-2012) bird and vegetation data collected at wind facilities in North Dakota and South Dakota
This data release contains eight datasets that represent the entirety of the data collected for a study that examined breeding-bird densities in native mixed-grass prairie from 2003 to 2012 at and adjacent to wind facilities in North Dakota and South Dakota, USA. Data were collected to determine breeding-bird density per 100 hectares (ha) by distance bands from turbines and by excluding habitat thEffects 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 - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Understanding the Avian-Impact Offset Method—A tutorial
Biodiversity offsetting, or compensatory mitigation, is increasingly being used in temperate grassland and wetland ecosystems to compensate for unavoidable environmental damage from anthropogenic disturbances such as energy development and road construction. Energy-extraction and -generation facilities continue to proliferate across the natural landscapes of the United States, yet mitigation toolsAuthorsJill A. Shaffer, Charles R. Loesch, Deborah A. BuhlLimited land base and competing land uses force societal tradeoffs when siting energy development
As human populations grow, decisions regarding use of the world's finite land base become increasingly complex. We adopted a land use–conflict scenario involving renewable energy to illustrate one potential cause of these conflicts and resulting tradeoff decisions. Renewable energy industries wishing to expand operations in the United States are limited by multijurisdictional regulations in findinAuthorsJill A. Shaffer, Neal D. Niemuth, Charles R. Loesch, Clayton E. Derby, Aaron T. Pearse, Kevin W. Barnes, Terry L. Shaffer, Adam J. RybaMigrating whooping cranes avoid wind-energy infrastructure when selecting stopover habitat
Electricity generation from renewable-energy sources has increased dramatically worldwide in recent decades. Risks associated with wind-energy infrastructure are not well understood for endangered whooping cranes or other vulnerable crane populations. From 2010 to 2016, we monitored 57 whooping cranes with remote-telemetry devices in the United States Great Plains to determine potential changes inAuthorsAaron T. Pearse, Kristine L. Metzger, David A. Brandt, Jill A. Shaffer, Mark T. Bidwell, Wade C. HarrellEstimating 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 grAuthorsJill A. Shaffer, Charles R. Loesch, Deborah A. BuhlModeling effects of crop production, energy development and conservation-grassland loss on avian habitat
Birds are essential components of most ecosystems and provide many services valued by society. However, many populations have undergone striking declines as their habitats have been lost or degraded by human activities. Terrestrial grasslands are vital habitat for birds in the North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), but grassland conversion and fragmentation from agriculture and energy-producAuthorsJill A. Shaffer, Cali L. Roth, David M. MushetEffects 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) assessmentAuthorsJill A. Shaffer, Deborah A. Buhl