Predicting strike susceptibility and collision patterns of the common buzzard at wind turbine structures in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany

PLoS One. 2020 Jan 24;15(1):e0227698. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227698. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

With the increase in wind turbines, bird collisions have developed as a potential hazard. In the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany, despite the on-going mitigation efforts of increasing the distances of wind turbines from the breeding areas of the more severely affected populations of red kites (Milvus milvus), the additional detrimental influences on the buzzard populations (Buteo buteo) have added to the challenges for wind power expansion. Using data on the regional distribution of the buzzards, along with their carcass detections around the wind turbines (WTs), we aimed to better understand their collision distribution patterns in relation to their habitat use patterns to predict their exposure to collision risk using boosted regression trees (BRTs). Additionally, we integrated the developed collision potential map with the regional density map of buzzards to identify areas of increased strike susceptibility in turbine installations. Our study showed that the buzzard collisions were primarily concentrated at the turbines situated at sensitive distances from the edges of watercourses (>1000 metres), as well as those along the edges of grasslands (>750 metres), in the green open areas around/areas with minimal settlements (750 metres-1750 metres), and along the edges of bushlands (>1500 metres), together explaining 58% of the variance in their collision distribution. Conclusively, our study is applicable to conservation because it demonstrates the identification of potential collision areas along with the causes of the collisions, in addition to demonstrating the benefits of incorporating a species collision dataset as a proxy for species presence into species distribution models to make informed management decisions to eventually combat biodiversity loss.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biodiversity
  • Birds / injuries*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Ecosystem
  • Female
  • Germany
  • Male
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Population Density
  • Renewable Energy / adverse effects*
  • Renewable Energy / statistics & numerical data
  • Wind*

Associated data

  • Dryad/10.5061/dryad.j1h2v

Grants and funding

Anushika Bose was funded by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst with a PhD Scholarship (ID 91540899). Reinhard A. Klenke was supported by the project SCALES – Securing the Conservation of biodiversity across Administrative Levels and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales of the EU 7th Framework Program (Grant Agreement 226852) and Naturschutzfachliches Monitoring des Ausbaus der Erneuerbaren Energien im Strombereich und Entwicklung von Instrumenten zur Verminderung der Beeinträchtigung von Natur und Landschaft of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Grant No. 3515822700).