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9/25/2018 | 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM | Indirect and Direct Impacts of Geothermal Activity on Greater Sage-Grouse Populations and Using Spatially-Explicit Integrated Population Models for Energy and Conservation Planning | Eccles Conference Center Auditorium

Indirect and Direct Impacts of Geothermal Activity on Greater Sage-Grouse Populations and Using Spatially-Explicit Integrated Population Models for Energy and Conservation Planning

A growing demand for domestically-produced energy coupled with technological advances in renewables has resulted in a widespread utility-scale, energy infrastructure across sagebrush ecosystems. Geothermal power is a fast-growing sector of renewable energy that can contribute significantly to base load power generation within the American West. An understanding of mechanistic effects of geothermal energy on wildlife population dynamics will likely be critical to planning decisions aimed at maintaining ecosystem function while striving to meet the nation’s energy demands. We constructed a spatially-explicit integrated population model (IPM) for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) using lek counts and demographic data from two geothermal sites (n female sage-grouse = 159) within the Great Basin to estimate factors related to annual population rate of change (?) as a function of individual vital rates (e.g., nesting, brood-rearing, etc.). Our objective was to disentangle indirect (e.g., avian predation) from direct (e.g., noise pollution) effects associated with geothermal activities across each vital rate. We accounted for potential confounding environmental factors by estimating a spatially-explicit baseline hazard function for each sage-grouse using parameters from multiple control sites (n female sage-grouse = 388). Findings indicate that ? was limited by the reproductive life stages, particularly the nesting period, and these vital rates were strongly associated with increased common raven (Corvus corax) numbers and distance from geothermal infrastructure. A post hoc evaluation revealed variation in effects among infrastructure components (e.g., transmission lines, facilities). We also provide a spatially-explicit example application of the IPM to design existing or upcoming energy development projects with the goal of avoiding or minimizing adverse impacts to local sage-grouse populations. These findings are preliminary and provided to meet the need for timely best science.

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Presenters/Authors

Peter Coates (), US Geological Survey, pcoates@usgs.gov;