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Bird communities and wind farms: a phylogenetic and morphological approach

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Abstract

The undeniable environmental benefits of wind energy are undermined by the negative effects of wind farms on bird populations through mortality by collision with the energy-generating structures. Studies have documented morphological, ecological, and behavioral traits associated with vulnerability to wind turbines. However, practically all studies have concentrated on the effects on particular populations, and community-level analyses are lacking. Here we assess the susceptibility of species on the basis of their morphology, and examine the effect of selective mortality on the topology and dispersion of phylogenies, and on the structure and volume of the ecological morphospace of bird assemblages. Using an extensive database of bird occurrences and fatalities in a wind farm located in southern Mexico, and performing null models to establish statistical significance, we compared sets of affected and unaffected species in terms of their wing morphology and position in a phylogeny. We found that birds more likely to fly in the risk zone tend to be smaller, with longer wings, and with heavier wing loadings. Within this group, species more likely to collide with blades and die are smaller, with short wings, and supporting lighter wing loadings. These patterns determine that the set of species less affected distribute in morphospace leaving noticeable holes (morphologies not represented). Birds flying in the risk zone tend to be related to each other, but species that actually collide with turbines belong to several separate clades. These differential effects on morphology and phylogenetic diversity pose important and complex challenges to the conservation of birds in areas where wind farms are being established.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to Jaime Gasca, Jorge Schondube, and Fabricio Villalobos for providing useful comments throughout the entire research, and the INECOL staff which helped with field work. Adolfo Navarro and Patricia Escalante allowed the access to bird collections. L. H.-A. was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Grant for master studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 27-3, CP 58089, Morelia, MICH, Mexico

    Leonel Herrera-Alsina

  2. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 27-3, CP 58089, Morelia, MICH, Mexico

    Leonel Herrera-Alsina & Héctor T. Arita

  3. Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, 91070, Xalapa, VER, Mexico

    Rafael Villegas-Patraca

  4. Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, CP 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    Luis E. Eguiarte

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  1. Leonel Herrera-Alsina
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  2. Rafael Villegas-Patraca
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  3. Luis E. Eguiarte
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  4. Héctor T. Arita
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Correspondence to Leonel Herrera-Alsina.

Appendix

Appendix

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Table 3 Species encountered flying in the risk zone and species with registered collisions showing which species match their morphology with at least one trait associated with increased risk of collision
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Herrera-Alsina, L., Villegas-Patraca, R., Eguiarte, L.E. et al. Bird communities and wind farms: a phylogenetic and morphological approach. Biodivers Conserv 22, 2821–2836 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0557-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0557-6

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