DOI: 10.5061/dryad.np5hqc06d
title: Species-specific responses of farmland birds to overhead powerlines

description: Displacement and attraction effects caused by transmission powerlines on
 bird species have been documented, but this topic remains underexplored in
 the scientific literature. Here, we evaluated the impact of transmission
 powerlines on bird species typical of open farmlands in the Mediterranean
 region, focusing on five areas designated to protect farmland birds in
 Southern Portugal. Using an impact-gradient design, we assessed how birds
 responded to the proximity of transmission powerlines. Breeding bird data
 were collected in 2021 and 2022. Our analysis revealed that, after
 controlling for habitat effects, overall Bird Species Richness and
 Grassland Bird Species Richness were not significantly influenced by the
 distance to powerlines. However, species-specific negative effects were
 observed for two farmland species: the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) and
 the calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra), both showing displacement up
 to 1 km from the powerlines. These findings indicate no evidence of
 community-level effects on species richness and no evidence of attraction
 to powerlines from farmland birds, but confirm species-specific
 displacement effects, with some species negatively impacted by the
 presence of the transmission powerlines. The little bustard, a species of
 high conservation concern that is also highly susceptible to collision
 with overhead powerlines, requires compensation for habitat loss due to
 the avoidance effect caused by powerlines.
description: # Species-specific responses of farmland birds to overhead powerlines This
 submission contains the dataset accompanying the following publication:
 Marques, A.T., Silva, J.P., Moreira, F. Species-specific responses of
 farmland birds to overhead powerlines. Ecology and Evolution, 2025 Please
 contact the corresponding author with questions about this data or to seek
 potential collaborations using these data. Ana Teresa Marques CIBIO -
 University of Porto Email:
 [anateresamarques@cibio.up.pt](mailto:anateresamarques@cibio.up.pt) The
 dataset (data.csv) includes: 1. ID_point: ID of the sampling point 2.
 Distance_powerline: Distance in meters from each sampling point to the
 closest transmission powerline 3. R_all: Overall species richness 4.
 R_grasslands: Grassland species richness (according to Table S1) 5. Tt_PA:
 Presence (1) / Absence (0) of the species Tetrax tetrax 6. Mc_PA: Presence
 (1) / Absence (0) of the species Melanocorypha calandra 7. Ec_PA: Presence
 (1) / Absence (0) of the species Emberiza calandra 8. Cj_PA: Presence (1)
 / Absence (0) of the species Cisticola juncidis 9. Ga_PA: Presence (1) /
 Absence (0) of the species Galerida sp. 10. Cc_PA: Presence (1) / Absence
 (0) of the species Coturnix coturnix 11. Sr_PA: Presence (1) / Absence (0)
 of the species Saxicola rubicola 12. UE_PA: Presence (1) / Absence (0) of
 the species Upupa epops 13. Area: Name of the study area 14. Fallow:
 Availability of fallow-land in the sampling point 15. Cereal: Availability
 of cereal crops in the sampling point 16. Legum: Availability of legume
 crops in the sampling point