The National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) Wildlife Workgroup
recently announced a four-year collaborative research project to study the
effect of wind power on the demography and population genetics of the
Greater Prairie-Chicken. The Greater Prairie-Chicken (
Tympanuchus
cupido) is a species whose population signals the overall health of
grassland ecosystems and is found in Kansas, Oklahoma and other parts of
the Great Plains.
Of interest to hunters, naturalists and ranch owners, Greater
Prairie-Chickens are considered sensitive to habitat disturbance because
of their large home ranges and because population reductions and loss of
genetic diversity are known to undermine their reproduction potential.
Understanding how development of wind energy resources may impact the
population viability of this species is of conservation concern, and what
strategies may be used to mitigate any impacts identified, is critical to
future development of the wind energy resource in prairie ecosystems, says
the NWCC.
Funds are now in place to begin a four-year study to establish what
impacts, if any, wind power facilities have on prairie-chicken demography
and population genetics. Drs. Brett Sandercock and Samantha Wisely from
Kansas State University (KSU) are the principal investigators.
One scientist calls the issue a "perceived problem" while a representative
from an environmental organization explains it has more to do with getting
all the facts in order to first determine whether there is a problem or
not.
"Without scientifically rigorous information about wind energy's impacts
-- or the lack thereof -- on grassland birds, we risk acquiescing to
development in areas that could suffer serious ecological damage from the
presence of wind turbines," says Rob Manes of The Nature Conservancy's
Kansas Office. "Conversely, we may also risk forfeiting climate change
mitigation and other ecological benefits of wind energy by unnecessarily
resisting wind power development where it is ecologically compatible."
The research will be conducted in Kansas' Flint Hills on land where wind
energy projects are proposed and on control sites where development is not
planned; the experimental and control sites are currently undisturbed
prairie rangeland. This venture is an important collaborative scientific
inquiry to establish whether there are effects from wind structures, says
the NWCC.
"This collaborative research effort is unique," said Dr. Robert Robel, an
expert on prairie-chicken populations. "Very seldom do you see developers,
wildlife ecologists, federal agencies, state entities and preservationists
working together to examine a perceived problem," explains Robel. "No
matter what the outcome of the research effort, society will benefit from
the scientific approach to the questions being addressed," said Robel.
Contributors to the project include wind developers -- FPL Energy, Horizon
Wind Energy, PPM Energy; NGOs -- Kansas and Oklahoma offices of The Nature
Conservancy; state agencies -- Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks;
and the federal government -- DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, wind developers
DISGEN, Greenlight Energy, and Horizon Wind Energy have granted researcher
access to three proposed wind sites.