TY - JOUR
TI - No Evidence for Displacement of Wintering Red-breasted Geese Branta ruficollis (Pallas, 1769) (Anseriformes) at a Wind Farms Area in Northeast Bulgaria: Long-term Monitoring Results
AU - Zahtindjiev, P
AU - Vasilev, V
AU - Marinov, M
AU - Ilieva, M
AU - Dimitrov, D
AU - Peev, S
AU - Raykov, I
AU - Rykova, V
AU - Ivanova, K
AU - Bedev, K
AU - Yankov, Y
T2 - Acta Zoologica Bulgaria
AB - While broadly considered "environmentally friendly", being a clean source of renewable energy, wind farms are not without potentially adverse effects on environmental features, notably on birds. The conservation status of the Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis (RBG) has changed from endangered in the past to vulnerable in 2015. At present, the hinterland of the western Black Sea coast, including Bulgaria, is one of the main wintering grounds of RBG, where flocks co-exist in the same region with around 200 wind turbines. We hypothesise that the operation of wind parks has caused displacement of wintering geese. However, according to the results of our study, RBG are using the same territory in the same number but distributed in smaller flocks. Our findings do not indicate displacement of RBG from traditional feeding grounds but are associated with the changes in the property of the land in Bulgaria and fragmentation of the crop fields, including those of wheat, which is the main feeding resource of RBG in winter. Our study provides no evidence for a displacement effect of wind turbines and describes the opportunistic strategy of wintering of RGB in the area in the last 20 years.
DA - 2017/01//
PY - 2017
VL - 69
IS - 2
SP - 2015
EP - 228
UR - http://www.acta-zoologica-bulgarica.eu/downloads/acta-zoologica-bulgarica/2017/69-2-215-228.pdf
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Land-Based Wind
KW - Displacement
KW - Birds
KW - Waterfowl
ER -