Geology topics

Teal Cufaude

Publications and source records attributed to Teal Cufaude.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2023

Wind-energy development alters pronghorn migration at multiple scales

Migration is a critical behavioral strategy necessary for population persistence and ecosystem functioning, but migration routes have been increasingly disrupted by anthropogenic activities, including energy development. Wind energy is the world's fastest growing source of electricity and represents an important alternative to hydrocarbon extraction, but its effects on migratory species beyond birds and bats are not well understood. We evaluated the effects of wind-energy development on pronghorn migration, including behavior and habitat selection, to assess potential effects on connectivity and other functional benefits including stopovers. We monitored GPS-collared female pronghorn from 2010 to 2012 and 2018 to 2020 in south-central Wyoming, USA, an area with multiple wind-energy facilities in various stages of development and operation. Across all time periods, we collected 286 migration sequences from 117 individuals, including 121 spring migrations, 123 fall migrations, and 42 facultative winter migrations. While individuals continued to migrate through wind-energy facilities, pronghorn made important behavioral adjustments relative to turbines during migration. These included avoiding turbines when selecting stopover sites in spring and winter, selecting areas farther from turbines at a small scale in spring and winter, moving more quickly near turbines in spring (although pronghorn moved more slowly near turbines in the fall), and reducing fidelity to migration routes relative to wind turbines under construction in both spring and fall. For example, an increase in distance to turbine from 0 to 1 km translated to a 33% and 300% increase in the relative probability of selection for stopover sites in spring and winter, respectively. The behavioral adjustments pronghorn made relative to wind turbines could reduce the functional benefits of their migration, such as foraging success or the availability of specific routes, over the long term.

Wyoming↗

USGS2022

Ungulate migrations of the western United States, volume 3

Ungulates (hooved mammals) have a broad distribution across the western United States and play an important role in maintaining predator-prey dynamics, affecting vegetation communities, and providing economic benefits to regional communities through tourism and hunting. Throughout the diverse landscapes they occupy, many ungulate populations undertake seasonal migrations to exploit spatially and temporally variable resources and to avoid predation or other threats. As the human footprint continues to expand across the western United States, ungulates increasingly face more obstacles on their migratory journeys. These obstacles threaten the long-term persistence of existing migrations. As a result, wildlife management agencies across the western United States have worked to identify and protect (or enhance) ungulate migration corridors and seasonal ranges identified from global positioning system (GPS) collar data. These efforts garnered additional support through the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretarial Order (SO) 3362, which was initiated in 2018 and provided Federal support for enhancing habitat quality of big-game winter ranges and migration corridors across the western states. Further, SO 3362 prompted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish the Corridor Mapping Team (CMT): a collaboration between USGS and participating State and Federal wildlife management agencies, as well as numerous Tribal Nations. The CMT works collaboratively to map ungulate migrations and seasonal ranges throughout the western United States within the Ungulate Migrations of the Western United States report series. Volume 1 of the series was published in 2020 and contained migrations and winter ranges from 42 herds across 5 states. Volume 2 was published in 2022 and contained migrations and seasonal ranges from an additional 65 herds. This report, Volume 3 in the series, details migrations and seasonal ranges from an additional 45 herds throughout most western states. In aggregate, the report series has detailed and mapped the migrations and seasonal ranges of 152 ungulate herds and serves as a map-based inventory of the documented ungulate migrations across the western United States. The data layers for most of the herds included in the report series are also available to the public by the USGS. In addition to the included herd maps, this volume provides an overview of the many ways the mapping efforts associated with the CMT are being integrated into local conservation, management, and policy throughout the western United States.

Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Or↗

USGS2021

Variable effects of wind-energy development on seasonal habitat selection of pronghorn

In the face of climate change, wind energy represents an important alternative to oil and gas extraction to meet increasing energy demands, but it has the potential to disrupt wildlife populations. Because behavioral adjustments, such as altered habitat selection, are a primary way that long-lived species respond to novel disturbances, we evaluated effects of wind energy development on pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana ) space use and habitat selection. Using data from GPS-collared female pronghorn in the Shirley Basin of south-central Wyoming, USA, we tested four potential effects of wind turbines on pronghorn space use during the summer and winter: (1) displacement away from wind turbines, (2) increase in size of home ranges, (3) short-term avoidance behavior within home ranges, and (4) changes in avoidance behavior within home ranges over time. We monitored 166 individuals over five summers (2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, and 2020) and 142 individuals over five winters (2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2018/2019, and 2019/2020) and used resource selection functions to evaluate selection relative to turbines after controlling for other habitat factors, such as snow depth. Although a lack of consistent negative effects of wind turbines on pronghorn across years suggested that wind energy development may have less severe and more intermittent effects on pronghorn than oil and gas development has had on other ungulates, there was a trend toward increased displacement during the study and behavioral avoidance was apparent for individuals in close proximity to turbines. However, pronghorn were highly variable in their fine-scale habitat selection, across both individuals and years, which could make effects of wind energy development difficult to detect. Nevertheless, some individuals, particularly those close to wind-energy facilities, did avoid turbines, which could translate to population-level behavioral or demographic changes over time and affect the resilience and stability of the population. Over time, the accumulation of development, including wind turbines, roads, and fences, can both limit movement and fragment habitat, potentially reaching a critical threshold beyond which populations are negatively impacted.

Wyoming↗