Wind farm and wildfire: spatial ecology of an endangered freshwater turtle in a recovering landscape

Abstract

Wind energy presents many advantages, but wind farms pose risks to wildlife and habitats. We hypothesized that habitat changes caused by the impacts of wind farm construction and wildfire would alter the spatial ecology of Spotted Turtles ( Clemmys guttata (Schneider, 1792)). In a space-for-time study design, we outfitted 28 turtles with radio transmitters in three treatments (Control n = 10, Wind farm n = 9, and Windburn (wind farm and wildfire n = 9)) and located turtles every 3–5 days throughout the active season. We did not detect any significant differences in turtle body condition, home range size, minimum daily distance moved, or microhabitat selection among treatments. Macrohabitat selection differed slightly among treatments; only Windburn turtles used wet depressions on rock barrens, which may indicate that turtles exploited early successional habitats created by wildfire. Turtles did not avoid habitats near wind farm infrastructure yet did not cross service roads unless a culvert was present, highlighting the need to maintain habitat connectivity in modified landscapes. Our findings suggest that Spotted Turtles that survived the acute impacts of the wildfire and wind farm construction were able to navigate the recovering landscape, but a before–after–control–impact study is required to understand the acute and long-term impacts of wind farms and wildfires on turtles.