Renewable energy plays a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the expansion of wind farms has raised concerns about risks for bird collisions. We tested different methods used to understand whether birds' flight occurs over wind turbines and found kernel density estimators outperform other methods. Previous studies using kernel utilization distribution (KUD) have considered only the 2 horizontal dimensions (2D). However, if altitude is ignored, an unrealistic depiction of the situation may result because birds move in 3 dimensions (3D). We quantified the 3D space use of the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) in El Estrecho natural park in Tarifa (southern Spain, on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar) during 2012–2013, and, for the first time, their risk of collision with wind turbines in an area in the south of Spain. The 2D KUD showed a substantial overlap of the birds' flight paths with the wind turbines in the study area, whereas the 3D kernel estimate did not show such overlap. Our aim was to develop a new approach using 3D kernel estimation to understand the space use of soaring birds; these are killed by collision with wind turbines more often than any other bird types in southern Spain. We determined the probability of bird collision with an obstacle within its range. Other potential application areas include airfields, plane flight paths, and tall buildings. © 2020 The Authors. Wildlife Society Bulletin published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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使用多维利用分布方法识别风力发电机的鸟类碰撞风险

可再生能源在减少温室气体排放中起着关键作用。但是，风力发电场的扩张引起了人们对鸟类碰撞风险的担忧。我们测试了用于了解鸟类是否在风力涡轮机上飞行的各种方法，并发现核密度估计值优于其他方法。以前使用内核利用率分布（KUD）进行的研究仅考虑了2个水平维度（2D）。但是，如果忽略高度，则可能会由于鸟类沿3维（3D）移动而导致情况的不真实描述。我们量化了Griffon秃ps（Gyps fulvus）于2012年至2013年期间在塔里法（西班牙南部，直布罗陀海峡北岸）的埃斯特雷乔自然公园中游玩，这是西班牙南部地区首次与风力涡轮机发生碰撞的危险。2D KUD显示研究区域中鸟类的飞行路径与风力涡轮机有大量重叠，而3D核估计没有显示出这种重叠。我们的目标是开发一种使用3D核估计的新方法，以了解飞鸟的空间使用情况。与西班牙南部的任何其他鸟类相比，它们被风轮机撞死的几率更高。我们确定了鸟类在其范围内与障碍物碰撞的可能性。其他潜在的应用领域包括飞机场，飞机飞行路线和高层建筑。©2020作者。野生动物协会公报 由Wiley Periodicals，Inc.代表野生动物协会出版。