Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems
Abstract There is an urgent need to understand ecological responses of avian species to the rapidly expanding human footprint of conventional and renewable energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems. The ferruginous hawk ( Buteo regalis ) and golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos ) are two sy...
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crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.3204 2024-05-19T07:50:02+00:00 Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems Squires, John R. Olson, Lucretia E. Wallace, Zachary P. Oakleaf, Robert J. Kennedy, Patricia L. 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3204 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3204 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3204 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3204 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Ecosphere volume 11, issue 8 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3204 2024-04-22T07:35:49Z Abstract There is an urgent need to understand ecological responses of avian species to the rapidly expanding human footprint of conventional and renewable energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems. The ferruginous hawk ( Buteo regalis ) and golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos ) are two sympatric raptors of conservation concern that occupy and flourish in the most intact sagebrush steppe region remaining in North America. To understand these species’ use of habitat relative to energy development, we built resource selection functions using a spatially representative sample of occupied nesting territories collected in 2010–2011 and remotely sensed environmental variables across an extensive study area (186,693 km 2 ). We used the resulting predicted resource selection maps to evaluate spatial overlap between the nesting habitats of these sympatric raptor species, as well as overlap of predicted habitat with potential development of oil/gas and wind energy resources. Remotely sensed variables were very effective in modeling patterns of nest‐site selection based on fivefold cross‐validation (>0.93 Spearman‐rank correlation) and validation with an independent dataset of historical nests collected from 2000 to 2009. Topographic roughness and intermediate levels of spring precipitation were the strongest drivers of differences in habitat use between ferruginous hawks and golden eagles. We did not detect a strong signal of avoidance of energy infrastructure by either species at current levels of development and both nested closer than expected to gravel/dirt roads associated with oil and gas infrastructure. However, extensive overlap of nesting habitat more selected by ferruginous hawks and golden eagles with areas of actual and potential energy development suggests both species are at risk from future habitat fragmentation. Given that 80% of nests are> 1 km from oil/gas wells, we believe the density of energy‐related disturbance present during our study was insufficient to drive patterns of resource ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Aquila chrysaetos golden eagle Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 11 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Squires, John R. Olson, Lucretia E. Wallace, Zachary P. Oakleaf, Robert J. Kennedy, Patricia L. Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
topic_facet |
Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract There is an urgent need to understand ecological responses of avian species to the rapidly expanding human footprint of conventional and renewable energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems. The ferruginous hawk ( Buteo regalis ) and golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos ) are two sympatric raptors of conservation concern that occupy and flourish in the most intact sagebrush steppe region remaining in North America. To understand these species’ use of habitat relative to energy development, we built resource selection functions using a spatially representative sample of occupied nesting territories collected in 2010–2011 and remotely sensed environmental variables across an extensive study area (186,693 km 2 ). We used the resulting predicted resource selection maps to evaluate spatial overlap between the nesting habitats of these sympatric raptor species, as well as overlap of predicted habitat with potential development of oil/gas and wind energy resources. Remotely sensed variables were very effective in modeling patterns of nest‐site selection based on fivefold cross‐validation (>0.93 Spearman‐rank correlation) and validation with an independent dataset of historical nests collected from 2000 to 2009. Topographic roughness and intermediate levels of spring precipitation were the strongest drivers of differences in habitat use between ferruginous hawks and golden eagles. We did not detect a strong signal of avoidance of energy infrastructure by either species at current levels of development and both nested closer than expected to gravel/dirt roads associated with oil and gas infrastructure. However, extensive overlap of nesting habitat more selected by ferruginous hawks and golden eagles with areas of actual and potential energy development suggests both species are at risk from future habitat fragmentation. Given that 80% of nests are> 1 km from oil/gas wells, we believe the density of energy‐related disturbance present during our study was insufficient to drive patterns of resource ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Squires, John R. Olson, Lucretia E. Wallace, Zachary P. Oakleaf, Robert J. Kennedy, Patricia L. |
author_facet |
Squires, John R. Olson, Lucretia E. Wallace, Zachary P. Oakleaf, Robert J. Kennedy, Patricia L. |
author_sort |
Squires, John R. |
title |
Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
title_short |
Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
title_full |
Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
title_sort |
resource selection of apex raptors: implications for siting energy development in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3204 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3204 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3204 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3204 |
genre |
Aquila chrysaetos golden eagle |
genre_facet |
Aquila chrysaetos golden eagle |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 11, issue 8 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3204 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
8 |
_version_ |
1799468626297749504 |