In an era of increasing energy demands and rapid development of new technologies, understanding the mechanisms that explain impacts of energy development on birds is increasingly important. To allow us to evaluate effects of oil wells, roads, and noise associated with wells, and to understand the reasons for these effects, we conducted large-scale mensurative and manipulative ecological experiments in Alberta, Canada, within which we compared effects of different types of oil wells, wells that were turned on and off, and recordings of well and drilling noise in the absence of real wells, all of which were also compared with control sites. We observed numerous effects of wells on habitat selection, parental behaviour, nesting success, and stress hormones, but in most cases these impacts were driven by the presence of the infrastructure, not operating noise or human activity. In contrast, the noise from wells being drilled, which is unpredictable and inconsistent and thus difficult to adapt to, had negative impacts far more frequently than did predictable, cyclic well operating noise. This suggests that noise regulations should consider the pattern of the noise, not just its amplitude. Further, our results suggest that both anthropogenic noise and the presence of wells decouple perceived from actual habitat quality for grassland birds, potentially leading to inefficient nest site selection and poor reproductive potential.

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Livestream (Channel 1). Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.