Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Observations from the Use of Dogs
to Undertake Carcass Searches at Wind
Facilities in Australia
Emma Bennett
Abstract
Mortality searches for bird and bat carcasses at wind farms in Australia
are becoming increasingly common. Dogs are used to detect biological scents in
a number of fields and their use for bird and bat carcass monitoring at wind farms
is growing globally; however this methodology has not been adopted so readily in
Australia. This paper details general findings and survey techniques relating to the
use of dogs learned from 8 years of field work and over 5,500 surveys. I have
identified a number of factors which can influence detection ability and efficiency,
including the relationship between the handler and the dog; weather conditions;
topography; vegetation and target species. In addition, methodology which recog-
nises the need to be flexible in the field is essential for maintaining consistent
accuracy. Based on my observations trained dogs are more accurate (higher detec-
tion) and efficient (faster) then human searchers and as training costs do not need
to be high, are an affordable alternative to humans. The use of dogs has clear
advantages for detecting small birds and bats, on steep and heavily vegetated
sites, where high accuracy is important, where threatened or endangered species
are a concern, and at large sites with large areas to survey. Formal monitoring
programs to quantify the influence of environmental factors on the dogs' accuracy
and efficiency would be welcome in Australia.
Keywords
Mortalitymonitoring•Dogs•Carcasssearches•Windfarms•Australia
Introduction
Mortality searches for bird and bat carcasses at wind farms in Australia are becom-
ing increasingly common as permit conditions are requiring operators to monitor
post construction impacts. Detecting all carcasses from turbine collisions is a
complex task and an understanding of the factors which reduce detection rates is
essential for estimating actual mortality. The main influences identified in estimating
bird and bat collision mortality are the ability to detect carcasses, carcass persistence
