Proceedings of the Wind-Wildlife Research Meeting X

Proceedings of the Wind Wildlife Research Meeting X, previously the Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VIII and VII; previously the NWCC Wildlife Workgroup Research Planning Meeting VI; previously the Onshore Wildlife Interactions with Wind Developments: Research Meeting V; and previously the National Avian - Wind Power Planning Meeting I-IV.

Wind energy’s ability to generate electricity without carbon emissions will help reduce the potentially catastrophic effects of unlimited climate change on wildlife. Wind energy also provides several other environmental benefits including substantially reduced water withdrawals and consumption, mercury emissions, and other sources of air and water pollution associated with burning fossil fuels. Adverse impacts of wind energy facilities to wildlife, particularly to individual birds and bats have been documented. Impacts to wildlife populations have not been documented, but the potential for biologically significant impacts continue to be a source of concern as populations of many species overlapping with proposed wind energy development are experiencing long-term declines because of habitat loss and fragmentation, disease, non-native invasive species, and increased mortality from numerous anthropogenic activities. These proceedings document current research pertaining to wind energy and wildlife impacts and innovations in technologies and methods to address these impacts, including: understanding risk, demographic impacts, fatality estimation, detection and deterrence technologies, and impact minimization and mitigation.