The relationship between wind turbines and corticosterone and testosterone levels in lekking male greater prairie chickens in Nebraska.

摘要

Human disturbances such as wind farms potentially stimulate stress responses in wildlife. My objective was to assess stress levels in wildlife in relation to proximity to wind turbines. I hypothesized that if wind farms induce physiological stress in prairie grouse, then levels of the stress response hormone, Corticosterone (CORT), would decrease in birds as distance from turbines increased. Hormones in birds can be measured noninvasively by analyzing droppings, eliminating capture stress required for taking blood samples. I analytically and biologically validated and used a radio- and enzymo- immunoassay to measure CORT, as well as Testosterone (T), in droppings of breeding male Greater Prairie Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido). I collected droppings at 15 breeding display grounds along a 25 km gradient from an established wind farm in the Nebraska Sandhills. My analysis indicates that wind turbines do not affect stress levels or T in breeding male Greater Prairie Chickens. Further research is warranted to investigate the physiological impacts of wind farms in other landscapes, reproductive periods, and species. The results of my study provide insight for management and energy- development guidelines to protect species of conservation concern.