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David M Pereksta

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Data for calculating population, collision and displacement vulnerability among marine birds of the California Current System associated with offshore wind energy infrastructure (ver. 2.0, June 2017)
The U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center (USGS-WERC) was requested by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to create a database for marine birds of the California Current System (CCS) that would allow quantification and species ranking regarding vulnerability to offshore wind energy infrastructure (OWEI). This was needed so that resource managers could evaluate potential impacts associated with siting and construction of OWEI within the California Current System section of the Pacific Offshore Continental Shelf, including California, Oregon, and Washington. Along with its accompanying Open File Report (OFR), this comprehensive database can be used (and modified or updated) to quantify...
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Four metrics were used to determine Collision Vulnerability: Diurnal and nocturnal flight activity, flight-height (defined as time spent in rotor sweep zone), and macro-avoidance. Nocturnal flight activity (NFA) and diurnal flight activity (DFA)—Nocturnal and diurnal flight activity can influence the risk of collision; therefore, we used available information to estimate the amount of time each species spent flying during night and during day. Time spent in the rotor sweep zone (RSZt)— the percentage of time each species spends flying at the same height as wind turbine blades (as opposed to above or below the sweeping zone of the blades) will influence collision vulnerability. Based on flight-height analyses and...
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Two metrics were used to determine Collision Vulnerability: Macro-avoidance and habitat flexibility. Macro-avoidance (MA)—The macro-avoidance values for species indicate the species-specific probability of avoidance for birds associated with wind power infrastructure. For each species, we derived this value from observed macro-avoidance rates (via human observation and radar) at existing offshore wind power sites. In cases where species-specific data were not available, we used information from similar taxa. Habitat Flexibility (HF)—the degree to which a species shows habitat-specific feeding strategies (habitat flexibility) influences its vulnerability for displacement by offshore infrastructure. We evaluated literature...
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Six metrics were used to determine Population Vulnerability: global population size, annual occurrence in the California Current System (CCS), percent of the population present in the CCS, threat status, breeding score, and annual adult survival. Global Population size (POP)—to determine population size estimates for each species we gathered information tabulated by American Bird Conservancy, Birdlife International, and other primary sources. Proportion of Population in CCS (CCSpop)—for each species, we generated the population size within the CCS by averaging region-wide population estimates, or by combining state estimates for California, Oregon, and Washington for each species (if estimates were not available...
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