Predicting Avian Risk Across Landscapes

Avian interactions with power generation, transmission, and distribution facilities are increasing as clean energy expands across the landscape. By incorporating best management practices, wildlife friendly designs, and Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC) recommendations, the power industry can reduce or even eliminate adverse interactions. However, these additional measures incur additional costs and operators need to understand what and where measures should be implemented to maximize their return on investment. With this goal in mind, we developed a multi-variate and multi-species spatial model to quantify risk for a suite of avian species guilds. We conducted this analysis within the service area of a major Colorado-based electric cooperative due to the wide diversity of land use and land cover across its territory. We developed a list of criteria which, based on published literature and expert knowledge, influence the risk for bird electrocution and collision across different avian guilds (i.e., raptors, shorebirds, waterfowl). Geospatial data layers were obtained or created to match each of the criteria. The criteria and their associated data were rescaled and weighted based on their relative influence on risk. The cumulative value of the criteria is used to express relative risk by guild across the study area. This model uses commonly available datasets and is intended to be transferrable and adaptable to various project sites or service areas. It should be considered as one data point in considering risk and how to best invest limited funds and resources in avian-safe designs or retrofits.