The effects of inter-personal factors on bird and bat mortality searcher efficiency

Abstract

Employee efficiency and performance are essential to the success of a project. These inter-personal factors have been investigated in specific settings but have not been explored in the scientific research assistants. This study looks at the effects of amount of sleep, mood, and energy level on the searcher efficiencies of bird and bat mortality searchers at wind farms. The inter-personal data was gathered by surveys--sleep to the nearest half hour and both mood and energy level on a scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high). Searcher efficiency--percent of marked carcasses found--was calculated (1) by searcher per field season, and (2) by day. These variables were analyzed with linear regression. No significant relationships were found (critical R squared greater than or equal to 0.95). This could be due to the low variability in the data because of study mechanics. Future studies should allow better quantification of the factors being examined through the surveys.