Comparison of the Relative Sensitivity of Four Mortality Estimation Equations to Variation in Correction Factor Values

The number of carcasses recovered during post-construction mortality monitoring at wind energy projects is a subset of the actual mortalities that occur at a particular site due to several factors such as area searched,... [ view full abstract ]

The number of carcasses recovered during post-construction mortality monitoring at wind energy projects is a subset of the actual mortalities that occur at a particular site due to several factors such as area searched, scavenger removal and searcher efficiency. Various correction factors and mortality estimating equations have been developed to generate estimates of true mortality levels. Our study compares four different commonly used mortality estimator equations (the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry estimator, the Huso estimator, the Schoenfeld-Erickson estimator and the Jain estimator) to determine their relative sensitivity to variation in underlying correction factors. We investigate the proportional change in estimated mortality for each of these four estimators following the manipulation of searcher efficiency and scavenger removal correction factors within the natural range of variation in Canada. We explore which correction factors are particularly sensitive to various combinations of scavenger removal and searcher efficiency and inherent biases and assumptions of each of these correction factors.