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

Abstract

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‐chickens 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, movement, 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.