The effects of wind turbines on California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi) behavior: Successfully integrating conservation and animal behavior research

The fields of conservation biology and animal behavior are only beginning to intersect. However, both fields could benefit from further integration. In the following dissertation I suggest that biologists can undertake research that simultaneously addresses: (1) basic research questions that advance our understanding of animal behavior and (2) applied research questions that allow us to identify and later mitigate the effects of ecological disturbances. Here, I demonstrate the integration of the two disciplines by describing my studies on California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi) antipredator behavior in the presence of electricity-generating wind turbines.; I identify a previously unaddressed impact of wind turbines, the high amplitude noise they emit when active, and the effect that such noise might have on S. beecheyi. I then describe how studies conducted near turbines have advanced our basic understanding of S. beecheyi antipredator behavior. Chapter 1 investigates if California ground squirrel alarm calls have become modified near turbines, potentially in response to the masking effects of turbine noise. Interestingly, calls did not differ in ways that would have been predicted had call differences been caused by turbine noise. Instead, squirrels near turbines appeared to respond to the challenges posed by living in a turbine environment through non-vocal behavioral modifications as reported in Chapter 2. During alarm-call playback trials, ground squirrels near turbines were more alert than those living in non-turbine areas, perhaps to compensate in the absence of vocal shifts.; Chapter 3 describes a basic study on antipredator behavior occurring over a prolonged period of time after a simulated predator encounter. After these encounters, S. beecheyi increased their clustering and time spent in burrows. A positive relationship between feeding and group size was also manifested post-predator. On the other hand, a negative relationship between scanning and group size did not differ when comparing baseline with post-predator samples, suggesting that factors besides increased predation risk were creating that relationship.; Thus, this volume presents one example of a successful empirical synthesis between basic behavioral and applied environmental studies. Likewise, this research addresses an impact of turbines that should be mitigated more fully in the future.