Bird community response to Marcellus shale gas development

Abstract

The Appalachian shale play, which includes the Marcellus shale formation, is an important source of natural gas and underlies much of the remaining large areas of extensive contiguous forest within the eastern United States, areas that are important breeding sites for forest songbirds. Shale gas development in contiguous forest creates large disturbances and causes habitat fragmentation; the landscape matrix remains characterized by stands of mature forest. We assessed the effects of shale gas development on counts of passerines and near‐ passerine birds within an extensively forested landscape. We surveyed birds within 2 broad forest types (northern hardwood and mixed oak) at increasing distances from 49 shale gas pads established within contiguous forest habitat. We compared counts of individual species and 3 vegetation‐association groups (forest interior, synanthropic, and early successional) in relation to distance from a pad edge, and we compared community composition with distance from a pad edge. Counts of individuals and species within the forest interior group increased with increasing distance from a pad edge; counts of individuals were approximately 4 times greater at 250 m than at 0 m and 3 times greater than at 50 m. Twelve of 15 species in the forest interior group increased with increasing distance from a pad edge with no species showing a declining trend. In contrast, counts of synanthropic (i.e., human‐associated) individuals and species were greatest at the pad edge and declined with distance to a pad edge. Counts of individuals at 250 m were 92% lower than at 0 m, and counts for 4 of the 5 individual species declined with increasing distance from a pad edge. Counts of individuals and species within the early successional habitat group were greater in oak (Quercus spp.) than in northern hardwood forests, and the response to a pad edge differed among species and between the 2 forest types. In northern hardwood stands, counts were greatest near the pad edge, whereas counts in oak stands showed no trend with distance to a pad edge. Overall, the combined avian community differed with distance from a pad edge. Our results suggest that synanthropic species, which are rare in core forest, are able to rapidly exploit new development‐associated habitat. Counts of forest interior specialists declined, suggesting the habitat is becoming less suitable for this group. Our results are an early indication that shale gas development in core forest can have negative consequences for forest songbird communities as synanthropic species, which tend to be habitat generalists with wide geographic ranges, replace forest specialists. Long‐term effects will depend on the scale and extent of shale gas development, emphasizing the need for proactive planning to minimize negative effects. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

Unconventional oil and gas spills: Materials, volumes, and risks to surface waters in four states of the U.S.

“…Further, land application of hydraulic fracturing fluid resulted in leaf drop and 56% mortality of trees where the application occurred (Adams 2011). Forest interior bird counts increased with distance from a well pad in Pennsylvania (Barton et al 2016), abundances of sagebrush Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA; 2015a) reviewed over 36,000 spill records from nine states but was able to confidently identify only 457 incidents associated with hydraulic fracturing (~12,000 contained insufficient information and ~24,000 were not related to hydraulic fracturing). The USEPA reported most spills were small (< 1,000 gallons, 3,785 L), flowback and produced waters were the most commonly spilled material, human error was the most common cause of a spill, storage units were the common source of spills, and 300 of the spills reached an environmental receptor; however, the study did not include spills that occurred during the drilling stage.…”

Remote Sensing of Forest Structural Changes Due to the Recent Boom of Unconventional Shale Gas Extraction Activities in Appalachian Ohio

“…The loss of core forest and the forest fragmentation had strong impacts on areasensitive species and ecosystem service in central Appalachian, and it is of particular importance to limit them [8,64,65]. Regarding the recent boom of these unconventional shale gas extraction activities in the Muskingum River Watershed, fewer well pad facilities were constructed during the declining phase of the boom but the construction of pipeline ROW corridors remained active throughout the boom period.…”

Resource selection by greater sage‐grouse varies by season and infrastructure type in a Colorado oil and gas field

“…The combined effects of infrastructure often lead to avoidance by wildlife and declines in wildlife populations within and around developed fields (Hovick et al, 2014; Naugle, 2011; Northrup & Wittemyer, 2013). However, some components of infrastructure may increase suitable habitat for some species or in some seasons (e.g., Barton et al, 2016; Bernath‐Plaisted et al, 2017; Farwell et al, 2019; Harju et al, 2018).…”