University of Oklahoma Graduate College
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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE ESTIMATING BIRD/BAT FATALITY RATES AND USING STABLE-HYDROGEN ISOTOPES TO ASSESS HOARY BAT MIGRATORY PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH A WIND-ENERGY FACILITY IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By ELIZABETH A. BURBA Norman, Oklahoma 2013 ESTIMATING BIRD/BAT FATALITY RATES AND USING STABLE-HYDROGEN ISOTOPES TO ASSESS HOARY BAT MIGRATORY PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH A WIND-ENERGY FACILITY IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY BY ______________________________ Dr. Gary D. Schnell, Co-chair ______________________________ Dr. Jeffrey F. Kelly, Co-chair ______________________________ Dr. Nicholas J. Czaplewski ______________________________ Dr. Lawrence J. Weider ______________________________ Dr. Gerilyn S. Soreghan © Copyright by ELIZABETH A. BURBA 2013 All Rights Reserved. I dedicate this dissertation to my husband, Chris Burba, and our three children, Caleb, Adi, and Isaac, who are more than just my contribution to global r. ACKNOWLEDEMENTS I am honored to have spent my tenure as a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma, Department of Biology and gladly express my respect and admiration of the numerous contributors to my success. The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support and guidance of many people, yet the foundation for my accomplishment was laid many years ago. My interest in the biological sciences began in early childhood, and I am grateful to my parents, Tim and Peggy Mosteller, who fostered and encouraged my curiosity. My parents taught through their example the importance of hard work, stewardship of our resources, ingenuity in problem- solving, and the joy of discovering our natural world. Family vacations were spent wilderness camping and visiting national parks. By simply allowing me to explore the natural world, a desire was born to identify organisms and understand their ecology. I hope that in my academic achievements, my parents can see, as I do, their influence and the fruit of their labor for which I am earnestly grateful. In college, my academic advisor, Dr. Jim Schooley, built upon my parent’s foundation. While I didn’t realize the extent of his influence at the time, he was instrumental in my professional development. I greatly appreciate his dedication to me as a student, not only in the classroom, but also with the opportunities he offered in field work and student employment that complimented my education. His example is one that I will model should I ever enter professional academia. My only regret is that he did not live long enough to see the culmination of my education or for me to adequately thank him in person for his mentorship. iv I am also grateful to Dr. Janette Wallis, who was also instrumental in my academic progress. While I no longer work on primates, she was the one who supervised my M.S. thesis research and improved my scientific methods, thinking, and writing. I have not forgotten all the time and energy she invested in me. At times, we navigated through difficult circumstances and, in doing so, I was exposed to professional aspects related to conflicts of interests, private-party agreements, and intellectual property rights. Such topics are often learned through experience, and I was fortunate to be able to learn them early in my scientific career. I am thankful for her well-rounded guidance in many areas of professional development. However, no one has had greater influence in my professional development than Dr. Gary Schnell, who was not only my Ph.D. committee chair but also my M.S. advisor, boss, and friend. Few, if any, students were under his mentorship as long as I. Over the last 12 years, I have gained museum collections experience, studied primate behavior, trapped bats and rodents in Mexico, surveyed for burying beetles, assessed bird and bat wind-turbine fatalities, and learned stable-isotope techniques. In return for this experience, I only gave him unrefined potential, numerous mistakes, scientific insecurity, and tedious papers to edit. I was always given an appropriate balance of independence, guidance, encouragement, and constructive criticism. He was diligent to provide for all of my academic needs and was also my greatest advocate. I am privileged to have so many years invested in me and am indebted to his service. Dr. Schnell retired during my last year of graduate school and Dr. Jeff Kelly graciously accepted chair responsibilities of my Ph.D. committee. Dr. Kelly was also on my M.S. committee, so I am fortunate to have benefited from his long-term investment. v His classroom instruction, equipment support, feedback, and guidance—especially as I ventured into the area of stable-isotopes—were critical to my academic progress. In addition to Drs. Schnell and Kelly, I thank the rest of my Ph.D advisory committee, Dr. Larry Weider, Dr. Nick Czaplewski, and Dr. Lynn Soreghan, who all have been tremendously understanding to issues in my personal life as I have balanced family and academics. While rightly maintaining their standard in academic quality, they were accommodating to my delayed progress, unpredictable schedules, and distant correspondence. I have taken more courses under Dr. Weider’s instruction than any other departmental professor. His instruction has filled many gaps in my scientific knowledge, especially in molecular techniques, that would have been neglected otherwise in my personal research. Dr. Czaplewski’s knowledge of mammals, especially bats, is extensive, and someday I hope to achieve his level of understanding to such broad topics within mammalogy and natural history. Furthermore, his gentle, humble leadership is an example I hope to emulate. Dr. Soreghan, my out-of-division member, may know least about the subject matter of my dissertation, but understands best the matters of my personal life. She has been a strong role model, not just for women in science, but in her support of family and children as fulfilling additions to a career. I am also grateful to the support of my graduate liaison, Dr. Rosemary Knapp, who was always diligent in reminding me of deadlines and guidelines within our department and the graduate college and processing all the required paperwork. Thanks to the staff of the Oklahoma Biological Survey (Ranell Madding, Trina Steil) and the vi Department of Biology (Carol Baylor, Robbie Stinchcomb) who unlocked doors when I frequently forgot my keys and answered many questions. I am thankful to my three children, Caleb, Adi, and Isaac Burba, all of whom were born during my Ph.D. work. They did absolutely nothing to aid in the progress of this dissertation, rather quite the opposite, yet they made the journey much more joyous and brighter. They were constant reminders that life is much more than a degree or a career, and above a doctorate, they are my greatest and most difficult accomplishment. I am blessed to be their mother and even more blessed to have friends and family that were also willing to care for them during critical times: my parents, Tim and Peggy Mosteller, my in-laws, Tim and Cindy Reed and Rick and Janet Burba, and my dear friends, Becky Mitchell and Shawna Batson. I am thankful to have been able to occasionally leave them in such capable, loving hands, knowing my children also looked forward to their time with each of them. No one has made greater sacrifices on my behalf than my husband, Chris Burba. He is the reason why I first moved to Norman, OK, and after watching his journey through graduate school, I decided to follow suit. I cannot imagine a more supporting husband and father. He has made both professional and personal sacrifices for me to pursue my academic goals. When demands of school were high, he was the one to pick up my slack in household and family care. He volunteered many hours to support me in field work and data collection, especially during late pregnancy and early post-partum periods. Without his support and loving encouragement, I would not have finished this dissertation, nay I never would have started. It is for this reason I dedicate my dissertation to him and express my heartfelt gratitude. vii Last and foremost, I thank God, for giving me the physical and mental ability to accomplish this work, and placing all of the aforementioned people in my life to identify and cultivate potential that I did not see in myself. The time and energy that each one of them has invested in me cannot be repaid; I only hope to pay it forward to future generations as I emulate their examples. I sincerely thank each and every one of them for their dedication to my academic success. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………. ix LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………… xii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………….. xiv PREFACE……………………………………………………………………………. xvi ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………. xvii CHAPTER 1 - THREE-YEAR ASSESSMENT OF BIRD AND BAT FATALTITIES FOR A WIND-ENERGY INSTALLATION IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA………………………………………………………………………....1 Abstract………………………………………………………………………. 2 Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 3 Methods……………………………………………………………………… 4 Study Site…………………………………………………………….. 4 Turbine Searches…………………………………………………….. 5 Carcass-Removal Assessment……………………………………….. 7 Searcher-Efficiency Assessment…………………………………….. 8 Statistical Analysis…………………………………………………… 10 Results………………………………………………………………………... 12 Documented