Wind turbines have been recognised as an alternative and clean-energy source with a low environmental impact. The selection of sites for wind-farm often creates serious conservation concerns on biodiversity. Wind turbines have become a serious threat to migratory birds as they collide with the turbine blades in some regions across the globe, while the impact on terrestrial mammals is relatively less explored. In this context, we assessed the responses of birds and mammals to the wind turbines in central Karnataka, India from January 2016 to May 2018 using carcass searches to quantify animal collisions (i.e., birds and bats), fixed radius point count for bird population parameters, and an occupancy framework for assessing the factor that determines the spatial occurrence of terrestrial mammals. The mean annual animal fatality rate per wind turbine was 0.26/year. Species richness, abundance, and unique species of birds were relatively higher in control sites over wind turbine sites. Species and functional compositions of birds in control sites were different from wind turbine sites, explaining the varied patterns of bird assemblages of different feeding guilds. Blackbuck, Chinkara, Golden Jackal, and Jungle Cat were less likely to occupy sites with a high number of wind turbines. The study indicates that certain bird and mammal species avoided wind turbine-dominated sites, affecting their distribution pattern. This is of concern to the management of the forested areas with wind turbines. We raised conservation issues and mitigating measures to overcome the negative effects of wind turbines on animals.

The list of birds of Sindhudurg coastal district was compiled based on primary and secondary information.  All observations were made along the Sindhudurg coast, i.e., from Terekhol to Vijaydurg.  Wetland birds were recorded during sampling while terrestrial birds were recorded opportunistically.  Besides, we also collated bird occurrence records from published literature (including grey literature and online resources) to prepare a comprehensive list of birds for Sindhudurg coast.  During our study, we recorded 283 species, and 24 more species were compiled from secondary sources.  Altogether, 307 species belonging to 78 families and 22 orders were recorded from the Sindhudurg coast.  Order Passeriformes was dominant with 111 species.  Among the 307 species, four species are endemic to the Western Ghats.  Three species of vultures had been reported earlier but two were not encountered in recent years.  Great Knot (EN), Woolly-necked Stork (VU) and 14 other species (NT) fall under various threat categories of IUCN.  Species richness was higher in Vengurla (256) followed by Malvan (247) and Devgad talukas.  Construction of homestays, unregulated tourism in coastal areas, and conversion of natural habitats to meet increasing tourism are the major threats to the coastal avifauna of the district.  A high species richness of birds in Sindhudurg coast is attributed to the availability of a wide array of habitats (coastal to woodlands with different degrees of anthropogenic disturbances).  Considering the high species richness of birds and livelihood dependency of humans on the coastal zones, a few estuaries namely Mochemad, Karli and Mitbav estuaries may be recognized as community/ conservation reserve to manage the ecosystem sustainably for long-term conservation of these estuaries and sub-habitats therein.  Also, those sites can be perceived as Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas of IBCN as they fulfill the IBA criteria.

T h e J o u r n a l o ff T h r e a tt e n e d T ax a fi s d e d fi c a tt e d tt o b u fi l d fi n g e v fi d e n c e ff o r c o n s e r v a fi o n g l o b a l l y b y p u b l fi s h fi n g p e e r -r e v fi ew e d a r fi c l e s o n l fi n e e v e r y m o n tt h a tt a r e a s o n a b l y r a p fi d r a tt e a tt www . tt h r e a tt e n e d tt a x a . o r g. A l l a r fi c l e s p u b l fi s h e d fi n J o T T a r e r e g fi s tt e r e d u n d e r C r e a fi v e C omm o n s A tt r fi b u fi o n 4 . 0 I n tt e r n a fi o n a l L fi c e n s e u n l e s s o tt h e rw fi s e m e n fi o n e d . J o T T a l l ow s u n r e s tt r fi c tt e d u s e o ff a r fi c l e s fi n a n y m e d fi um , r e p r o d u c fi o n , a n d d fi s tt r fi b u fi o n b y p r o v fi d fi n g a d e q u a tt e c r e d fi tt tt o tt h e a u tt h o r s a n d tt h e s o u r c e o ff p u b l fi c a fi o n .

No abstract