Lesser prairie-chicken habitat selection and survival relative to a wind energy facility located in a fragmented landscape

The overlap of renewable wind energy with the range of lesser
prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) raises concern of population
declines and habitat loss. Lesser prairie-chickens are adversely affected
by landscape change, however, it is unclear how this species may respond
to wind energy development. Therefore, managers and wind energy developers
are currently tasked with making management or siting recommendations of
future wind energy facilities based on lesser prairie-chicken behavioral
responses to other forms of anthropogenic development or responses of
other grouse species to wind energy development. The current strategy of
siting wind turbines in cultivated cropland within lesser prairie-chicken
range has not been evaluated for its effectiveness at minimizing potential
adverse impacts. We captured 60 female and 66 male lesser prairie-chicken
from leks located along a gradient from wind turbines in southern Kansas,
USA, from 2017–2021. Over the study period, we collected lesser
prairie-chicken location data and demographic information to evaluate
resource selection, movements, and demography relative to environmental
predictors and metrics associated with the wind energy facility. Lesser
prairie-chickens used habitats in close proximity to wind turbines,
provided that turbine density was low; however, avoidance associated with
cultivated cropland appeared to be more predictive than the presence of
wind turbines. We observed movement between turbines suggesting that wind
turbines did not act as a barrier to local movements. We did not detect an
influence of wind turbines on nest success or individual survival during
breeding or non-breeding periods, a relationship that is consistent among
multiple grouse species using habitats near wind energy infrastructure.
Additional research is necessary to evaluate impacts associated with wind
energy development in intact lesser prairie-chicken habitats, but placing
wind turbines in cultivated croplands or other fragmented landscapes
appears to be an important siting measure when considering wind energy
facility siting across the lesser prairie-chicken range.