A Research Update on the Effects of Marcellus Shale exploration and development on wildlife habitat and birds PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Margaret Brittingham

Number of permits and wells drilled is increasing exponentially

7000 6000 5000
Number wells

4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 Year 2009 2010 2011

Permits Wells Drilled

Research Objectives
Use a GIS analysis to quantify landscape elements and forest cover pre and post Marcellus Determine local effects of well pads on songbird populations Determine landscape effects of Marcellus development on birds

Our study is focused in a 11 county region in the Northcentral part of the state where forest habitat is most abundant

We focused on forest habitat in the NC region of the state because of the overlap between the Marcellus formation and core forest habitat and the importance of this core forest to wildlife

Diversity of mammals is highest within the NC region of Core forest

Joly and Myers 2001

Pennsylvania is a keystone state for many forest interior and area sensitive species

Scarlet tanager 19% of Pop in PA

Wood thrush 9% of pop in PA

Hunting, Ecotourism, Aesthetics, Recreation are important in this region of the state > $5.5 Billion annually

Gas well development changes the landscape

Areas are cleared for the well pad

Completed pad stabilized with stone

Locally, seismic testing, roads and pipelines create linear corridors

We conducted a GIS analysis using available permit/drilled data, before and after photos, ground truthing, and on the ground measurements to describe landscape change. Collaborators: Joe Bishop, Patrick Drohan, Kevin Yoder

3147 wells 11% on public land, 89% private land 2017 pads 6% on public land, 94 % private land

Mean well pad size is 4.9 acres

n= 29 well pads NC PA

X= 2.0 + 0.2 ha (4.9 acres) Range 0.6 6.4 ha (1.5-15.5 acres)

Number of wells per pad

35 30
Percent of Well Pads

25 20 15 10 5 0

2-3

4-5

6-7

Number of Well per Pad

(n=26)

Prior land use where well was drilled

Based on ~February 1, 2011 PADEP data, wells drilled to date.

Forest Pasture Row Crops Developed

Habitat Conversion from 1190 Marcellus pads in NC region

5262 total acres

Breeding bird atlas blocks were used as our sampling unit - Approximately 3.1 X 3.1 miles (6,400
acres,2590 ha)

Used in first and second PA BBA project Habitat data tied to animal abundance and distribution

We calculated a fragmentation index for blocks in study area (Brooks et al.2009). Score ranges from 0 (highly fragmented) to 1 (low or no fragmentation) Index includes:

% Forest % core forest Mean patch size Impervious surfaces Land development index Road density For our blocks, correlation between Fragmentation index and % forest 0.92

 275 blocks in study area ranked in top 5 or 10 % for state Mean Fragmentation scores = 0.85+0.006
Range 0.59-1.00 75% >0.78

2nd PA Breeding Bird Atlas Wilson and Brauning

Fragmentation index with well pads added

Change in number of BBA blocks by fragmentation index Category PreMarcellus Post Marcellus 2011 201 388 % Change
8%

Dark Green 219 0.856-1.00

Light + 403 Dark Green 0.768-1.0

4%

For select blocks we mapped the entire infrastructure

Local Effects of Well Pads on Bird Abundance and Distribution

14 well pad sites in 6 counties 11 private land, 3 public land 122 points surveyed twice Birds surveyed for 6 min within 50 m of point 66 points within 50 m of pad 56 points 150-250 m from pad

 57 species recorded. 15 Species greater than 15 observations Compared distribution near versus far from pad

Ten species were significantly more abundant away from well pads than near well pads
Black-throated Blue Warbler
30
Expected Observed

25

Number of Observations

20

15

=24.52, p< 0.001

10

0 Category

Near

Away

Blue-headed Vireo
20
Expected Observed

Number of Observations

15

10

2
0 Category Near Away
40

=16.72, p< 0.001

Ovenbird
Expected Observed

Number of Observations

30

=10.31, p = 0.001

20

10

0 Category

Near

Away

One species was significantly more abundant near well pads than away from well pads
American Robin
14 12
Number of Observations
Expected Observed

10 8 6 4 2 0 Category

=7.23 , p=0.007

Near

Away

Ten Species were only found near well pads and not away from well pads

Ten Species were only found away from well pads and not near well pads

Determine landscape level effects of Marcellus Development on Birds Survey BBA blocks and mini-blocks (1/9th block) with different levels of Marcellus activity Plan to compare bird communities among blocks and pre and post Marcellus

Well pad density by blocks and mini-blocks

Blocks: Well pad density = 0.00-0.57/km2 Mini- blocks: Well pad density = 0.00-1.1/km2

36 blocks and 24 mini-blocks surveyed 368 point counts 105 species, 3,400 individuals Most common red-eyed vireo (344) and ovenbird(342) Data analysis will occur this fall

What effects will pipelines have on wildlife communities? 60,000 new miles of pipeline are predicted

Pipe lines act as barriers to dispersal for some species

And as avenues for invasion for others

Spotted Salamander

Bown-headed Cowbird

Others use them as pathways for travel or hunting

Raccon or opposum

Depending on how they are managed, pipelines may provide brood habitat or nesting habitat currently limiting some species or may function as ecological traps

Pipeline Adjacent to Road Yes No

Length (meters) 14386 5651

Length (meters) New roads Roads widened 3611 4112

Area (meters2) 22533 26870

No change

12313

94138

Roads vary in habitat quality

Traffic Changes Bradford County

Traffic 5-Year Average vs. 2010 Counts
7000

6726 6304 6008 5706

6000

5000

5-Year Total Traffic Average 3565 3101 3691 3947 5-Year Truck Traffic 2010 Total Traffic Average 2010 Truck Traffic

4000

3000

2000

1300
1000

1460

1260 277

967

310
0 SR 14, Seg 0310 South of Troy

247
SR 6, Seg 0320 West of Burlington

274

SR 6, Seg 0420 SR 6, Seg 0500 East of Burlington West of SR 220 & Towanda

Source: PennDOT Engineering District 3-0

Ruffed grouse are edge species with specialized habitat requirements

+ Open areas for feeding,

insects, brood habitat + Possible increase in early successional and edge habitat -Increase in number of mammalian predators -Increase in disturbance -Increase in roads

Ruffed Grouse

Effects of development on turkeys will depends on local conditions and restoration activities

+ Open areas for

feeding, insects, seeds

-Loss of thermal cover,

destruction of spring seeps, increase in number of mammalian predators, increase in disturbance Wild Turkey

Deer are very adaptable and will benefit from openings but not from traffic and higher hunting pressure

+ Open areas for feeding -Increase in roads, higher hunting pressure

White-tailed deer

Identify and protect important habitat features prior to development

Provide private landowners with assistance at the site development stage and for pad and pipeline restoration

Protect critical core forest habitat

Manage pipelines and corridors to create habitat that is not an ecological trap

Restore pads and minimize the amount of time that pads are non-habitat.

 Monitor the land and report problems Participate in research and monitoring programs developed to determine how populations are responding to changes

Form broad coalitions with natural resource related individuals and organizations

Special thanks to Penn State collaborators J. Bishop, P. Drohan and S. Pabian and to students working on this project E. Barton, N. Fronk, K. Yoder

We thank the following organizations and programs for research support

Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR) Marcellus Research Seed Grant Program Heinz Endowments PA DCNR Wild Resource Conservation Program Pennsylvania Game Commission State Wildlife Grants Program