Long-term Effects of Energy Development on Winter Distribution and Residency of Pronghorn in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Long-term Effects of Energy Development on Winter Distribution and Residency of Pronghorn in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Author: Hall Sawyer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 11
Release: 2019
Genre: Antelope
ISBN:

An increasing global demand for energy assures continued disturbance to previously undeveloped landscapes, but understanding broader impacts to wildlife remains elusive. Among groups of species most vulnerable to habitat disruption are those requiring large tracts of land. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) are an obligate to the open plains and basins that, similar to other transcontinental large herbivores, rely primarily on habitats where development of energy resources such as oil, natural gas, coal, wind, and solar are intensifying. To understand behavioral response to a burgeoning energy development project, we evaluated avoidance, displacement, and winter residency patterns of pronghorn in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem across a 15-year period using 171 collared individuals. Distance from natural gas well pads increased through time and was concurrent with declines in winter residency. Between 2005 and 2017, we found that (a) pronghorn avoidance of well pads likely increased by 408 m, (b) the overall displacement of pronghorn relative to well pads in the final year of study increased by 800 m, (c) the time pronghorn spent in the study area was reduced by 22% (nearly 1 month), and (d) the percentage of pronghorn leaving the study area increased by 57%. Such directional changes signal a strong behavioral response of an open-plain obligate to energy infrastructure, and together, these metrics indicate that pronghorn response to energy development involves both avoidance of infrastructure and partial abandonment of their traditional winter ranges. While comparable long-term data sets are generally unavailable for other functionally equivalent ungulate groups in similar ecological topographies of Asia, Africa, and South America, our study may serve as a reasonable surrogate and highlights that behavioral changes elicited from energy development which at first appear subtle can proliferate and may portend demographic consequences.

Rangeland Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Rangeland Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Author: Lance B. McNew
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1017
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 303134037X

This open access book reviews the importance of ecological functioning within rangelands considering the complex inter-relationships of production agriculture, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat. More than half of all lands worldwide, and up to 70% of the western USA, are classified as rangelands—uncultivated lands that often support grazing by domestic livestock. The rangelands of North America provide a vast array of goods and services, including significant economic benefit to local communities, while providing critical habitat for hundreds of species of fish and wildlife. This book provides compendium of recent data and synthesis from more than 100 experts in wildlife and rangeland ecology in Western North America. It provides a current and in-depth synthesis of knowledge related to wildlife ecology in rangeland ecosystems, and the tools used to manage them, to serve current and future wildlife biologists and rangeland managers in the working landscapes of the West. The book also identifies information gaps and serves as a jumping-off point for future research of wildlife in rangeland ecosystems. While the content focuses on wildlife ecology and management in rangelands of Western North America, the material has important implications for rangeland ecosystems worldwide.

Sub-lethal Effects of Energy Development on a Migratory Mammal

Sub-lethal Effects of Energy Development on a Migratory Mammal
Author: Jon P. Beckmann
Publisher:
Total Pages: 12
Release: 2016
Genre: Migration
ISBN:

To meet societal demands for energy, ~50,000 gas sites are developed annually in North America, among which many are in western less-developed and wildlife rich areas. To evaluate effects of increasing energy infrastructure requires sufficiently robust study designs, an onerous issue given the vastness of scale, limited funds, and an abject dearth of baseline data. Here we address these issues, first by discussion of the type of approaches needed to develop proper inference about potential effects of energy footprints, and subsequently through an empirical approach by examining the biological performances of more than 370 GPS radio-collared adult female pronghorn (Antilocapra americana). A rigorous attempt to examine if industrial development has any impact on pronghorn is based on three assumptions: (i) late-winter body mass reflects a period of inadequate food availability because winter habitat is altered; (ii) variation between population segments reflects spatial differences in food availability, increased energetic costs, or varying survival rates between gas field and non-developed sites; and (iii) reproductive correlates including physiological and immunological markers and adult survival are lower at sites varying in habitat quality. Our study area situated in one of the world?s premier wildlife regions?the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem?harbors approximately 100,000 wintering ungulates, some of North America?s longest migrations, and two of the continent?s largest gas fields. We compared the response of five variables between wild pronghorn in control (not disturbed) and experimental (developed gas fields with well pads, roads, and traffic) sites?pregnancy, chronic stress, immune function, body mass, and adult survival. Despite shifts in animal movements, which included avoidance of energy infrastructure where development is occurring at the highest densities inside two of the largest natural gas fields in North America (Pinedale Anticline Project Area [PAPA] and Jonah fields) and other behavioral or ecological observations of sub-lethal effects, we failed to reject the null hypothesis that development is unrelated to parity in pronghorn biological responses. Studies intent on producing knowledge to assess whether energy development is inimical or not to ungulates will increasingly require appropriate time scales and understanding whether populations are below an expected food ceiling. Further, as with pronghorn in our study region, knowing if individuals are at the limits of their biological range (e.g. altitude) where stressful winter conditions may mask impacts of development is important.

Pronghorn (Antilocapra Americana) Response to Wind Energy Development on Winter Range in South-central, Wyoming

Pronghorn (Antilocapra Americana) Response to Wind Energy Development on Winter Range in South-central, Wyoming
Author: Kaitlyn L. Taylor
Publisher:
Total Pages: 123
Release: 2014
Genre: Antelopes
ISBN: 9781321063394

In order to understand the potential impacts of wind energy development to pronghorn (Antilocapra americana ) on winter range, I evaluated the response of a wintering pronghorn population to the Dunlap Ranch wind energy facility over 3 winters in south-central Wyoming, USA. My objectives were to 1) evaluate displacement of pronghorn in relation to wind energy infrastructure components to identify changes in movement rates influenced by vicinity to wind energy development, 2) develop a resource selection function (RSF) for pronghorn exposed to wind energy at the population level to gain insights into winter resource selection on this landscape, 3) apply the overall best fit population level model to individuals with home ranges that overlapped wind energy to isolate potential avoidance behavior relative to each individual within its own home range, and 4) to identify environmental and anthropogenic predictor variables (inclusive of wind energy) influencing pronghorn mortality risk on winter range. In addition, I modeled resource selection and estimated survival for a neighboring population of pronghorn near Walcott Junction, Wyoming. Dunlap Ranch was developed for wind energy production in 2010 and was located approximately 11.8 km north of Medicine Bow, in Carbon County, Wyoming. I obtained location data from 47 female pronghorn equipped with GPS-transmitters at Dunlap Ranch. I modeled frequency of use as a continuous response variable to predict pronghorn resource selection across the Dunlap Ranch both at the population and individual levels. I estimated survival for pronghorn using the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator. Finally, I modeled mortality risk for pronghorn at Dunlap Ranch using the Cox proportional hazards model inclusive of cumulative, weekly, and monthly temporal scales. At the population level, pronghorn at the Dunlap Ranch selected for areas closer to wind energy facilities and with lower slopes, standard deviation in snow depth, and density of fences. At the individual level, coefficients for distance to nearest wind energy facility did not differ from zero (P > 0.05) across all 3 winters, indicating no effect of wind energy development on pronghorn resource selection on winter range in my study area. In addition, pronghorn daily net displacement did not increase closer to wind energy development (r2 = 0.001-0.012) during each winter. Twenty-four pronghorn from the Dunlap Ranch study area died with the majority of deaths (n = 13 or 54.2% of deaths) occurring in winter 2010-2011. Overall, I did not detect an influence of wind energy development on pronghorn movement behavior, resource selection, or mortality risk at the Dunlap Ranch. Most avoidance behaviors documented in ungulate populations are associated with human presence and increased traffic. Lower traffic rates observed within the Dunlap Ranch paired with less overall length of access roads and less habitat developed than in oil and gas fields may explain why avoidance and increased movement rates were not observed in pronghorn. My results are valuable in providing guidance for wildlife managers considering future wind energy development on pronghorn winter range. For example, identifying sagebrush as influential for pronghorn winter mortality risk should lead to greater conservation of sagebrush stands in areas where development and pronghorn winter range coincide. My results also illustrate that fence densities and variability in snow depth are important contributors to habitat selection by wintering pronghorn in south-central Wyoming and must be considered when implementing further modifications (energy and other human developments) to these harsh environmental landscapes to minimize impacts to pronghorn. Regardless, caution must be taken when generalizing these results across pronghorn populations. Although pronghorn were not impacted negatively by wind energy on the Dunlap Ranch, my results cannot be directly applied to populations exposed to wind energy development at larger scales and on other seasonal ranges where traffic levels and environmental conditions may differ. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone's Northern Range

Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone's Northern Range
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2002-02-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309083451

Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone's Northern Range discusses the complex management challenges in Yellowstone National Park. Controversy over the National Park Service's approach of "natural regulation" has heightened in recent years because of changes in vegetation and other ecosystem components in Yellowstone's northern range. Natural regulation minimizes human impacts, including management intervention by the National Park Service, on the park ecosystem. Many have attributed these changes to increased size of elk and other ungulate herds. This report examines the evidence that increased ungulate populations are responsible for the changes in vegetation and that the changes represent a major and serious change in the Yellowstone ecosystem. According to the authors, any human intervention to protect species such as the aspen and those that depend on them should be prudently localized rather than ecosystem-wide. An ecosystem-wide approach, such as reducing ungulate populations, could be more disruptive. The report concludes that although dramatic ecological change does not appear to be imminent, approaches to dealing with potential human-caused changes in the ecosystem, including those related to climate change, should be considered now. The need for research and public education is also compelling.

Yellowstone Bison

Yellowstone Bison
Author: Patrick James White
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2015-05
Genre: American bison
ISBN: 9780934948302