Avian collisions at two wind farms in Tasmania, Australia: taxonomic and ecological characteristics of colliders versus non-colliders. (Special Issue: Impacts of wind energy developments on wildlife: a southern hemisphere perspective.)

摘要

Data obtained during carcass and bird utilisation surveys conducted over an approximately 10-year period at two wind farms in northwest Tasmania (Bluff Point Wind Farm [BPWF] and Studland Bay Wind Farm [SBWF]) were compared. Of the species present onsite only 21% at the BPWF and 18% at the SBWF were found to collide with turbines, indicating that presence onsite was a poor indicator of collision risk. Furthermore, there was a poor relationship between abundance onsite and collisions with turbines. A classification and regression tree classified species into the groups that collided or did not collide, based on two classifiers. Specific families/superfamilies and foraging strategies/zones were associated with collision risk and indicated that particular morphological, ecological and behavioural factors were associated with a species' vulnerability to colliding with wind turbines. Future studies should investigate whether the patterns found at these sites are consistent across other habitats and sites