Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: Lasiurus, Lasionycteris) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development

In eastern North America, “tree bats” (Genera: Lasiurus and Lasionycteris) are highly susceptible to collisions with wind energy turbines and are known to fly offshore during migration. This raises concern about ongoing expansion of offshore wind-energy developm...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Michael C. True, Richard J. Reynolds, W. Mark Ford
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	tree bats <i>Lasiurus</i> <i>Lasionycteris</i> wind turbine collisions offshore statistical modeling Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/50c51d1ef3b8443993d4e2e1ba311a22
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:50c51d1ef3b8443993d4e2e1ba311a22
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:50c51d1ef3b8443993d4e2e1ba311a222021-11-25T16:17:03ZMonitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development10.3390/ani111131462076-2615https://doaj.org/article/50c51d1ef3b8443993d4e2e1ba311a222021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3146https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615In eastern North America, “tree bats” (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i> and <i>Lasionycteris</i>) are highly susceptible to collisions with wind energy turbines and are known to fly offshore during migration. This raises concern about ongoing expansion of offshore wind-energy development off the Atlantic Coast. Season, atmospheric conditions, and site-level characteristics such as local habitat (e.g., forest coverage) have been shown to influence wind turbine collision rates by bats onshore, and therefore may be related to risk offshore. Therefore, to assess the factors affecting coastal presence of bats, we continuously gathered tree bat occurrence data using stationary acoustic recorders on five structures (four lighthouses on barrier islands and one light tower offshore) off the coast of Virginia, USA, across all seasons, 2012–2019. We used generalized additive models to describe tree bat occurrence on a nightly basis. We found that sites either indicated maternity or migratory seasonal occurrence patterns associated with local roosting resources, i.e., presence of trees. Across all sites, nightly occurrence was negatively related to wind speed and positively related to temperature and visibility. Using predictive performance metrics, we concluded that our model was highly predictive for the Virginia coast. Our findings were consistent with other studies—tree bat occurrence probability and presumed mortality risk to offshore wind-energy collisions is highest on low wind speed nights, high temperature and visibility nights, and during spring and fall. The high predictive model performance we observed provides a basis for which managers, using a similar monitoring and modeling regime, could develop an effective curtailment-based mitigation strategy.Michael C. TrueRichard J. ReynoldsW. Mark FordMDPI AGarticletree bats<i>Lasiurus</i><i>Lasionycteris</i>wind turbine collisionsoffshorestatistical modelingVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ZoologyQL1-991ENAnimals, Vol 11, Iss 3146, p 3146 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	tree bats <i>Lasiurus</i> <i>Lasionycteris</i> wind turbine collisions offshore statistical modeling Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	tree bats <i>Lasiurus</i> <i>Lasionycteris</i> wind turbine collisions offshore statistical modeling Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Michael C. True Richard J. Reynolds W. Mark Ford Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development
description	In eastern North America, “tree bats” (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i> and <i>Lasionycteris</i>) are highly susceptible to collisions with wind energy turbines and are known to fly offshore during migration. This raises concern about ongoing expansion of offshore wind-energy development off the Atlantic Coast. Season, atmospheric conditions, and site-level characteristics such as local habitat (e.g., forest coverage) have been shown to influence wind turbine collision rates by bats onshore, and therefore may be related to risk offshore. Therefore, to assess the factors affecting coastal presence of bats, we continuously gathered tree bat occurrence data using stationary acoustic recorders on five structures (four lighthouses on barrier islands and one light tower offshore) off the coast of Virginia, USA, across all seasons, 2012–2019. We used generalized additive models to describe tree bat occurrence on a nightly basis. We found that sites either indicated maternity or migratory seasonal occurrence patterns associated with local roosting resources, i.e., presence of trees. Across all sites, nightly occurrence was negatively related to wind speed and positively related to temperature and visibility. Using predictive performance metrics, we concluded that our model was highly predictive for the Virginia coast. Our findings were consistent with other studies—tree bat occurrence probability and presumed mortality risk to offshore wind-energy collisions is highest on low wind speed nights, high temperature and visibility nights, and during spring and fall. The high predictive model performance we observed provides a basis for which managers, using a similar monitoring and modeling regime, could develop an effective curtailment-based mitigation strategy.
format	article
author	Michael C. True Richard J. Reynolds W. Mark Ford
author_facet	Michael C. True Richard J. Reynolds W. Mark Ford
author_sort	Michael C. True
title	Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development
title_short	Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development
title_full	Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development
title_fullStr	Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development
title_full_unstemmed	Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development
title_sort	monitoring and modeling tree bat (genera: <i>lasiurus</i>, <i>lasionycteris</i>) occurrence using acoustics on structures off the mid-atlantic coast—implications for offshore wind development
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/50c51d1ef3b8443993d4e2e1ba311a22
work_keys_str_mv	AT michaelctrue monitoringandmodelingtreebatgenerailasiurusiilasionycterisioccurrenceusingacousticsonstructuresoffthemidatlanticcoastimplicationsforoffshorewinddevelopment AT richardjreynolds monitoringandmodelingtreebatgenerailasiurusiilasionycterisioccurrenceusingacousticsonstructuresoffthemidatlanticcoastimplicationsforoffshorewinddevelopment AT wmarkford monitoringandmodelingtreebatgenerailasiurusiilasionycterisioccurrenceusingacousticsonstructuresoffthemidatlanticcoastimplicationsforoffshorewinddevelopment
_version_	1718413255535230976

Monitoring and Modeling Tree Bat (Genera: <i>Lasiurus</i>, <i>Lasionycteris</i>) Occurrence Using Acoustics on Structures off the Mid-Atlantic Coast—Implications for Offshore Wind Development

Ejemplares similares