Doi: https://doi.org/10.13157/arla.70.1.2023.rp1
Authors: James F. DWYER, Igor V. KARYAKIN, José Rafael GARRIDO LÓPEZ and Elvira G. NIKOLENKO
E-mail: jdwyer@edmlink.com
Published: Volume 70.1, January 2023. Pages 3-27.
Language: English
Keywords: Aquila nipalensis, corvid, electrocution, falcon, kestrel, mitigation and retrofitting
Summary:
Electrocutions involving power lines negatively impact avian populations on six continents. Affected species and mitigation strategies to minimise these effects are well described in parts of North America, Europe and southern Africa and are being developed in Asia, Australia and South America. Probably the most geographically dispersed electric system in the world is in Russia, where avian electrocutions have been documented since the 1970s. Research into avian electrocutions in Kazakhstan and southern Russia is extensive but is largely unknown outside Russia, which limits opportunities to consider cumulative regional effects. This review summarises what is known of avian electrocutions in Kazakhstan and Russia. Avian electrocutions on power lines were first identified in Russia in 1937, with concerns focused on impacts on electric system reliability, not wildlife populations. Electrocutions increased substantially in the 1970s when construction standards transitioned from wooden poles with wooden crossarms, which posed relatively low risk, to concrete pylons with steel crossarms, which posed and continue to pose much higher risks. Impacts to raptor populations are greatest where 6-10kV electric systems traverse vast arid landscapes with few natural tall perches. Birds perching on pylons can simultaneously contact live (energised) conductors and earthed (grounded) crossarms, creating an electrical circuit. Raptors are the bird group most often electrocuted, and this source of non-natural mortality is contributing to declines in Asian raptor populations. For example, Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis populations have collapsed in the Caspian steppes of Kazakhstan and southern Russia, declining from 20,000 pairs to 1,100 pairs. Fines for electrocutions codified in Russian law are intended to persuade Russian electric utilities to implement mitigation measures, but because fines are rarely enforced either within Russia or within neighbouring countries, mitigation measures are largely omitted even in new construction, and even in places with extensive documentation of electrocutions. Importantly, electric systems are similar across the many countries of the former Soviet Union that now share international boundaries and connected electric systems, probably posing substantial cumulative risks for migrant birds traversing the region.
Full Article:
Full Article
Supplementary Material:
Downloadable 1
