Identifying Birds' Collision Risk with Wind Turbines Using a Multidimensional Utilization Distribution Method

Renewable energy plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the expansion of wind farms has raised concerns about risks for bird collisions. We tested different methods used to understand whether birds' flight occurs over wind turbines and found kernel density estimators outperform other methods. Previous studies using kernel utilization distribution (KUD) have considered only the 2 horizontal dimensions (2D). However, if altitude is ignored, an unrealistic depiction of the situation may result because birds move in 3 dimensions (3D). We quantified the 3D space use of the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) in El Estrecho natural park in Tarifa (southern Spain, on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar) during 2012-2013, and, for the first time, their risk of collision with wind turbines in an area in the south of Spain. The 2D KUD showed a substantial overlap of the birds' flight paths with the wind turbines in the study area, whereas the 3D kernel estimate did not show such overlap. Our aim was to develop a new approach using 3D kernel estimation to understand the space use of soaring birds; these are killed by collision with wind turbines more often than any other bird types in southern Spain. We determined the probability of bird collision with an obstacle within its range. Other potential application areas include airfields, plane flight paths, and tall buildings. (c) 2020 The Authors. Wildlife Society Bulletin published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.Peer reviewe

Individual variation in the over-summering areas of immature short-toed snake eagles Circaetus gallicus

Satellite tracking is an invaluable tool in the study of bird movements. However, the normally small sample size it involves makes it difficult to obtain data spanning the entire range of migratory behaviour found in particular populations. We recently reported that Spanish immature Short-toed Snake Eagles leave their winter quarters in sub-Saharan Africa to occupy summering areas in northern Africa (north of the Sahara), in contrast to previously reported behaviour of a young French eagle which remained during the summer in the sub-Saharan wintering range. A more recent increase in the sample size of tracked young snake eagles further extends our knowledge of the summering behaviour of this species with one immature reaching the European range but occupying four widely-separated areas during the course of the summer. In the short-term, technology progress may provide the normal use of representative samples to increase accuracy in movement ecology studies

Biogeography and contemporary climatic differentiation among Moroccan Salamandra algira

The opening of the Gibraltar land bridge occurred at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis approximately 5.3 Mya, and was one of the main causes of vicariance between European and north-west African amphibians, resulting in the origin of several new species. However, little is currently known about the causes for post-Messinian amphibian differentiation in the Maghreb, although it is acknowledged that the Pleistocene glaciations probably had considerable influence on several species. The current study uses both species distribution modelling (MAXENT) and information from a total of 694 bp of mitochondrial data (351 from cytochrome b and 342 from 12S rRNA) from 36 representatives of all three recognized subspecies of Moroccan Salamandra to infer the phylogeny and biogeography of Salamandra algira tingitana, which is characterized by both viviparous and ovoviviparous populations. According to the results, the split between S. a. tingitana and S. a. algira from the Rif and Middle Atlas mountains took place approximately 1.6 Mya, and could have been caused by a shift towards a colder and drier climate that occurred during the upper Pliocene, which may have resulted in the isolation of Salamandra at increasingly higher altitudes, or in other climatically favourable areas. Several lineages within S. a. tingitan

Niches of the different crested newt (candidate) species based on PCA-env.

<p>Each (candidate) species' niche is displayed on the same referential: a multi-dimensional scale represented by the first two axes of a principal component analyses summarizing the entire study area. Grey shading reflects the density of the occurrences of each (candidate) species in each cell. The solid and dashes contour lines illustrate 100% and 50% of the available environment in the study area. The correlation circle (bottom left) shows the contribution of the climatic variables on the two axes of the PCA and the percentage of inertia explained by the two axes.</p

Niche overlap values and results of similarity tests for each pair of crested newt candidate species (the three <i>Triturus karelinii</i>'s) and recognized species as determined with PCA-env (below diagonal) and ENFA (above diagonal).

<p>Similarity tests compare one (candidate) species with the background of the other and the reverse. If one or both comparisons are significant, results for the comparison of (candidate) species listed from top to bottom with the background of the one listed from left to right are noted before the slash; after the slash the reverse combination is noted. *  =  significantly larger (p<0.05) and ns  =  non-significant.</p

The distribution of the crested newt <i>Triturus cristatus</i> superspecies.

<p>Fig. 1a shows the distribution of the four recognized crested newt species and the <i>Triturus karelinii</i> group. Fig. 1b shows the distribution of the distinct eastern, central and western mitochondrial DNA lineages comprising the <i>Triturus karelinii</i> group (sensu <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0046671#pone.0046671-Wielstra1" target="_blank">[11]</a>), with a geophylogeny superimposed (created with GeoPhyloBuilder <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0046671#pone.0046671-Kidd1" target="_blank">[31]</a>).</p

Biogeography and contemporary climatic differentiation among Moroccan Salamandra algira

The opening of the Gibraltar land bridge occurred at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis approximately 5.3 Mya, and was one of the main causes of vicariance between European and north-west African amphibians, resulting in the origin of several new species. However, little is currently known about the causes for post-Messinian amphibian differentiation in the Maghreb, although it is acknowledged that the Pleistocene glaciations probably had considerable influence on several species. The current study uses both species distribution modelling (MAXENT) and information from a total of 694 bp of mitochondrial data (351 from cytochrome b and 342 from 12S rRNA) from 36 representatives of all three recognized subspecies of Moroccan Salamandra to infer the phylogeny and biogeography of Salamandra algira tingitana, which is characterized by both viviparous and ovoviviparous populations. According to the results, the split between S. a. tingitana and S. a. algira from the Rif and Middle Atlas mountains took place approximately 1.6 Mya, and could have been caused by a shift towards a colder and drier climate that occurred during the upper Pliocene, which may have resulted in the isolation of Salamandra at increasingly higher altitudes, or in other climatically favourable areas. Several lineages within S. a. tingitana originated during the Pleistocene climatic oscillations, one of which gave rise to the viviparous populations north of the Oued Martil. It is suggested that the origin of viviparity in S. a. tingitana occurred during the last 600 000 years. In order to further understand the origin of the unique viviparous population of S. algira from North Africa, predictive distribution models of the viviparous and ovoviviparous populations of S. a. tingitana were created using MAXENT to assess environmental differences. Niche divergence was subsequently determined using Schoener's D and Warren et al.'s I niche similarity metrics. Predictive modelling and niche divergence analyses revealed significant environmental differences between the two reproductive types, which could have influenced the transition from ovoviviparity to viviparity. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.The mtDNA work was funded by grant CGL2009-11663/BOS from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain. S.C. is a member of the Grup de Recerca Emergent of the Generalitat de Catalunya: 2009SGR1462.Peer Reviewe