Wind turbine power and land cover effects on cumulative bat deaths

Wind turbines (WT) cause bird and bat mortalities which depend on the WT and landscape features. The effects of WT features and environmental variables at different spatial scales associated to bat deaths in a mountainous and forested area in Thrace, NE Greece were investigated. Initially, we sought to quantify the most lethal WT characteristic between tower height, rotor diameter and power. The scale of interaction distance between bat deaths and the land cover characteristics surrounding the WTs was quantified. A statistical model was trained and validated against bat deaths and WT, land cover and topography features. Variance partitioning between bat deaths and the explanatory covariates was conducted. The trained model was used to predict bat deaths attributed to existing and future wind farm development in the region. Results indicated that the optimal interaction distance between WT and surrounding land cover was 5 km, the larger distance than the ones examined. WT power, natural land cover type and distance from water explained 40 %, 15 % and 11 % respectively of the total variance in bat deaths by WTs. The model predicted that operating but not surveyed WTs comprise of 377.8% and licensed but not operating yet will contribute to 210.2% additional deaths than the ones recorded. Results indicate that among all WT features and land cover characteristics, wind turbine power is the most significant factor associated to bat deaths. Results indicated that WTs located within 5 km buffer comprised of natural land cover types have substantial higher deaths. More WT power will result in more deaths. Wind turbines should not be licensed in areas where natural land cover at a radius of 5km exceeds 50%. These results are discussed in the climate-land use-biodiversity-energy nexus

Figure 3 in The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece

Figure 3. Bi-plot of amphibian species with significant environmental and isolation variables at the 2000-m scale after a canonical correspondence analysis.Published as part of Kret, Elzbieta & Poirazidis, Konstantinos, 2014, The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece, pp. 451-469 in Journal of Natural History 49 (5) on page 462, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.809167, http://zenodo.org/record/400414

Figure 1 in The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece

Figure 1. Map of the study area showing habitat types and locations of water body samples.Published as part of Kret, Elzbieta & Poirazidis, Konstantinos, 2014, The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece, pp. 451-469 in Journal of Natural History 49 (5) on page 453, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.809167, http://zenodo.org/record/400414

The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece

Kret, Elzbieta, Poirazidis, Konstantinos (2014): The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece. Journal of Natural History 49 (5): 451-469, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.80916

Figure 2 in The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece

Figure 2. Bi-plot of amphibian species with significant environmental and isolation variables at the 250-m scale after a canonical correspondence analysis.Published as part of Kret, Elzbieta & Poirazidis, Konstantinos, 2014, The influence of habitat features on amphibian distribution in Northeastern Greece, pp. 451-469 in Journal of Natural History 49 (5) on page 461, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.809167, http://zenodo.org/record/400414

Wolf–Hunting Dog Interactions in a Biodiversity Hot Spot Area in Northern Greece: Preliminary Assessment and Implications for Conservation in the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest National Park and Adjacent Areas

Hunting dog depredation by wolves triggers retaliatory killing, with negative impacts on wildlife conservation. In the wider area of the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest National Park, reports on such incidents have increased lately. To investigate this conflict, we interviewed 56 affected hunters, conducted wolf trophic analysis, analyzed trends for 2010–2020, applied MAXENT models for risk-map creation, and GLMs to explore factors related to depredation levels. Losses averaged approximately one dog per decade and hunter showing a positive trend, while livestock depredations showed a negative trend. Wolves preyed mainly on wild prey, with dogs consisting of 5.1% of the winter diet. Low altitude areas, with low to medium livestock availability favoring wolf prey and game species, were the riskiest. Dogs were more vulnerable during hare hunting and attacks more frequent during wolf post-weaning season or in wolf territories with reproduction. Hunter experience and group hunting reduced losses. Wolves avoided larger breeds or older dogs. Making noise or closely keeping dogs reduced attack severity. Protective dog vests, risk maps, and enhancing wolf natural prey availability are further measures to be considered, along with a proper verification system to confirm and effectively separate wolf attacks from wild boar attacks, which were also common

Long-term size and range changes of the Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus population in the Balkans: a review

The Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus is a large Palearctic, Indohimalayan and Afrotropical Old-World vulture. The species' range is vast, encompassing territories from the Pyrenees to the Himalayas. We reviewed and analysed a long-term data set for Griffon Vulture in the Balkans to estimate the change in its population size and range between 1980 and 2019. After a large historical decline, the Griffon Vulture population slightly increased in the last 39 years (lambda = 1.02) and reached 445-565 pairs in 2019. We recorded a gradual increase of Griffon Vulture subpopulations in Serbia (lambda = 1.08 +/- 0.003), Bulgaria (lambda = 1.08 +/- 0.003) and Croatia (lambda = 1.05 +/- 0.005) and steep to a moderate decline of the species subpopulations in Greece (lambda = 0.88 +/- 0.005) and North Macedonia (lambda = 0.94 +/- 0.01). However, species range contracted to half of its former range in the same period. It occurred in 42 UTM squares in the 1980-1990 period and only 20 UTM squares between 2011 and 2019 and concentrated into three source subpopulations in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Croatia. Following reintroductions of the Griffon Vulture in Bulgaria, new colonies were formed at three novel localities after 2010. Regular movements of individuals between the different subpopulations exist nowadays. Therefore, preservation of both current and former core areas used for breeding and roosting is essential for species conservation in the region. However, the Griffon Vulture still faces severe threats and risk of local extinction. Various hazards such as poisoning, collision with energy infrastructure, disturbance and habitat alteration are depleting the status of the Balkan population and its full recovery. Further studies should analyse age-specific survival and mortality, recruitment, genetic relatedness, spatial use to inform the viability of this population in the future