CASPER, Wyo. — A recently released study, authored in part by a University of Wyoming professor, suggests that wind energy developments may have similar impacts on the mating rituals of the greater sage grouse as other forms of energy facilities when turbine density is high.
Dr. Jeffrey Beck, from the university’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management Research, conducted the study alongside researchers Chad LeBeau, Lauren Hoskovec and lead author Dr. Kurt Smith. They said that in areas where wind turbine density is more heavily concentrated, some male sage grouse abandoned their strutting grounds, which are referred to as leks.
The team looked at three factors when studying the relationship between male grouse lek attendance and wind development: distance of the leks from turbines, density of the turbines and distribution of the turbines.
“There were three leks where the distribution [of turbines] was really concentrated close by. They all became inactive. All the birds quit attending those leks,” Beck said.
The team had the opportunity to study the 78 leks they monitored before and after the development of wind energy farms over the course of 20 years. Since the university began studying the grouse in 2000, researchers have seen how lek attendance appeared prior to a closer proximity to turbines, how they reacted to wind energy developments being installed and how they’ve adapted to having them nearby.
Of those three leks, one was abandoned prior to turbines being installed, one was abandoned four years after development and the final was abandoned 10 years after development. What that suggests to Beck is that grouse behave in a similar way with wind as they do with other forms of development, such as oil and gas.
“If there’s lots of high-density development close to sage grouse leks, we could see the loss of those leks,” Beck said. “They are no longer functional and there’s no more grouse attending them.”
He added that the areas adjacent to the leks where sage grouse would normally live without mating are also likely abandoned in these scenarios.
“That was kind of supportive of what we’ve seen with oil and gas development also,” Beck said.
They focused their study on leks outside of the core protected areas for the greater sage grouse on the fringes of their population centers. Wind energy is currently prohibited from development in the core grouse population areas, per the State of Wyoming’s sage grouse executive order, while oil and gas pads are allowed in core areas as long as there is only one pad per square mile. This means that research was limited to only the 10 wind farms that exist in grouse inhabited areas.
Because it remains to be seen how grouse in the core areas would fare near wind turbines, there are still many factors yet discovered regarding the relationship between the birds and the structures. There is also still no indication that one form of energy is more detrimental or promotive to grouse populations than others.
“The really important thing to point out with wind energy is that the size of these wind developments, compared to the scale of oil and gas, is much smaller. The average number of turbines within each facility was 67,” Beck said. “The infrastructure is similar with turbine pads and roads and transmission lines. That’s comparable with oil and gas, but the scale of these wind farms is small.”
Beck also clarified that density still matters. Oil and gas will not promote grouse populations across the board, but the wind farms, based on what has been studied so far, appear to be harmful in dense configurations.
“We find more strong negative effects on male lek attendance from oil and gas. We have found that in the past,” Beck said. “What we know so far with these small study areas, small sample sizes and small number of turbines is that we haven’t seen that except when the configuration is really tight.”
This informs some additional questions about wind and grouse. Without being included in core areas, there is no way of knowing the impacts of wind energy development on larger populations. It’s also unclear what a larger wind farm could do.
“I’m not going to say wind energy is better than oil and gas. I’m not going to say that,” Beck said. “There’s much better information on oil and gas and sage grouse than there is with wind energy. It’s much easier to talk about because it’s been studied a lot better and it’s been studied in places with more birds. Some of the effects are probably more evident because of that.”