Electricity generation from renewable-energy sources has increased dramatically worldwide in recent decades. Risks associated with wind-energy infrastructure are not well understood for endangered Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) or other vulnerable Crane populations. From 2010 to 2016, we monitored 57 Whooping Cranes with remote-telemetry devices in the United States Great Plains to determine potential changes in migration distribution (i.e., avoidance) caused by presence of wind-energy infrastructure. During our study, the number of wind towers tripled in the Whooping Crane migration corridor and quadrupled in the corridor’s center. Median distance of Whooping Crane locations from nearest wind tower was 52.1 km, and 99% of locations were >4.3 km from wind towers. A habitat selection analysis revealed that Whooping Cranes used areas ≤5.0 km (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.8–5.4) from towers less than expected (i.e., zone of influence) and that Whooping Cranes were 20 times (95% CI 14–64) more likely to use areas outside compared to adjacent to towers. Eighty percent of Whooping Crane locations and 20% of wind towers were located in areas with the highest relative probability of Whooping Crane use based on our model, which comprised 20% of the study area. Whooping Cranes selected for these places, whereas developers constructed wind infrastructure at random relative to desirable Whooping Crane habitat. As of early 2020, 4.6% of the study area and 5.0% of the highest-selected Whooping Crane habitat were within the collective zone of influence. The affected area equates to habitat loss ascribed to wind-energy infrastructure; losses from other disturbances have not been quantified. Continued growth of the Whooping Crane population during this period of wind infrastructure construction suggests no immediate population-level consequences. Chronic or lag effects of habitat loss are unknown but possible for long-lived species. Preferentially constructing future wind infrastructure outside of the migration corridor or inside of the corridor at sites with low probability of Whooping Crane use would allow for continued wind-energy development in the Great Plains with minimal additional risk to highly selected habitat that supports recovery of this endangered species.

中文翻译：

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迁徙鸣鹤在选择中途停留栖息地时避开风能基础设施

近几十年来，可再生能源的发电量在全球范围内急剧增加。与风能基础设施相关的风险对于濒临灭绝的鸣鹤（Grus americana) 或其他脆弱的鹤种群。从 2010 年到 2016 年，我们使用远程遥测设备在美国大平原监测了 57 只百日鹤，以确定风能基础设施的存在引起的迁徙分布（即回避）的潜在变化。在我们的研究中，百日鹤迁徙走廊的风塔数量增加了两倍，走廊中心的风塔数量增加了四倍。百日鹤位置距最近风塔的中位数距离为 52.1 公里，99% 的位置距风塔 > 4.3 公里。栖息地选择分析显示，百日鹤使用距离塔小于预期的 5.0 公里（95% 置信区间 [CI] 4.8-5.4）区域（即影响区域），百日鹤使用了 20 倍（95% CI 14- 64) 与邻近塔楼相比，更有可能使用外部区域。根据我们的模型，80% 的 Whooping Crane 位置和 20% 的风塔位于使用 Whooping Crane 的相对概率最高的区域，该区域占研究区域的 20%。为这些地方选择了百日鹤，而开发商相对于理想的百日鹤栖息地随机建造了风力基础设施。截至 2020 年初，4.6% 的研究区域和 5.0% 的最高选择的百日鹤栖息地在集体影响区内。受影响的地区相当于因风能基础设施造成的栖息地丧失；其他干扰造成的损失尚未量化。在风力基础设施建设期间，百日鹤种群的持续增长表明不会对人口产生直接影响。栖息地丧失的慢性或滞后效应是未知的，但对于长寿物种来说是可能的。优先在迁徙走廊外或走廊内在不太可能使用百日鹤的地点建造未来的风能基础设施，将允许大平原地区的风能持续开发，同时将对支持恢复这种濒危动物的高度选择的栖息地的额外风险降至最低物种。