Spatial Pattern of Summer Bat Mortality from Collisions with Wind Turbines in Mixed-grass Prairie

Bat fatalities at two wind farms in Tasmania, Australia: bat characteristics, and spatial and temporal patterns

“…Sedgley & O'Donnell 1999; Lloyd et al 2006), but not all . Given that Gould's wattled bats can travel up to 11 km from their roosts to forage (Lumsden et al 2002), it suggests the small-scale habitat variability on site may not be an important factor in influencing collision risk, or that the bats are not using particular routes through the WF (Piorkowski & O'Connell 2010). However, the analysis that was possible on the data in our study was relatively coarse.…”

Impacts of Wind Energy Development on Bats: A Global Perspective

“…However, other species also are affected, sometimes seriously. Fatalities of the cave-living Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) are quite frequent in the southern USA during the maternity period in summer (Miller 2008;Piorkowski and O'Connell 2010). In the USA, two species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act also have been killed by turbines, the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus; Arnett and Baerwald 2013).…”

“…In assessing the type of vegetation present in areas where the fatalities were found in wind facilities in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 79.6 % occurred in agricultural areas. In Oklahoma in 2004, Piorkowski and O'Connell (2010) found that turbines in eroded ravine topography accounted for higher fatality rates than those in areas of low topographic relief and reported some evidence that turbines in mixed cedar/pasture habitats killed more bats than those in cropland and prairie habitats. However, these patterns were not repeated in 2005 or for both years of the study when combined, and Piorkowski and O'Connell (2010) speculated that bats may have exhibited different habitat use patterns in different years or they did not measure factors better explaining annual differences they observed.…”

“…Alternatively, rocks on tops of hills and mountains might provide suitable roosts. Piorkowski and O'Connell (2010) documented the first evidence of fatality of Mexican free-tailed bats at a North American wind facility that could be attributed to the site's proximity (~15 km) to a large maternity colony. In Wisconsin, Grodsky (2010) found no relationship between distances of turbines from a large hibernaculum (Neda Mine), but in this case, hibernating bats did not belong to the species most vulnerable to wind turbine mortality (see above).…”

Effects of Renewable Energy Production and Infrastructure on Wildlife

“…Highest bat mortality has been observed along forested ridge tops in the Appalachian Mountains and forested hilltops in southern Germany, with lowest records in fl at agricultural landscapes. Although local concentrations of mortality at specifi c turbines has been occasionally described (Piorkowski and O'Connell 2010 ;Georgiakakis et al 2012 ), most bat fatalities are randomly distributed across turbines (Arnett et al 2008 ), making it diffi cult to draw clear guidelines for conservation planning (Kunz et al 2007 ;Rydell et al 2010 ). However, most fatalities occur during low wind nights (<6 m/s) in late summer and the fi rst half of autumn, thus increasing the cut-in speed of the turbines on nights with high risk of bat collision would be an effective management tool to reduce mortality.…”