Quantifying the impact of offshore wind farms on Gannet populations: a strategic ringing project

Furness, Robert W.; Wanless, Sarah

doi:10.1080/03078698.2014.995418

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1). These differences in spatial distribution are important in relation to potential risks of collision with offshore wind farm turbines, since gannets are among the species thought to be at highest risk of collision mortality (Furness et al 2013;Furness and Wanless 2014). Most offshore wind farms that have been constructed or given planning consent are in the southern North Sea.…”

Section: Migration Of Gannets From Icelandmentioning

confidence: 99%

East or west? Migration routes and wintering sites of Northern Gannets Morus bassanus from south-eastern Iceland

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Migration Of Gannets From Icelandmentioning

confidence: 99%

East or west? Migration routes and wintering sites of Northern Gannets Morus bassanus from south-eastern Iceland

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Britain and Ireland hold ~65% and 85% of the world and European breeding populations of gannets, respectively (Wanless, Murray & Harris ; Murray, Harris & Wanless ). Planning consent for several major offshore wind farms has just been granted in close proximity to major North Sea Gannet colonies (Furness & Wanless ). Tracking studies suggest that gannets typically travel at heights below 10 m but may ascend to above 20 m during foraging, as they search for prey and attain height, and therefore potential energy, prior to plunge‐diving (Garthe et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three‐dimensional tracking of a wide‐ranging marine predator: flight heights and vulnerability to offshore wind farms

Cleasby

Wakefield

Bearhop

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1.A large increase in offshore wind turbine capacity is anticipated within the next decade, raising concerns about possible adverse impacts on birds as a result of collision risk. Birds' flight heights greatly influence this risk, yet height estimates are currently available only using methods such as radar-or ship-based observations over limited areas. 2. Bird-borne data-loggers have the potential to provide improved estimates of collision risk and here, we used data from Global Position System (GPS)-loggers and barometric pressure loggers to track the three-dimensional movements of northern gannets rearing chicks at a large colony in south-east Scotland (Bass Rock), located <50 km from several major wind farm developments with recent planning consent. We estimated the foraging ranges and densities of birds at sea, their flight heights during different activities and the spatial variation in height during trips. We then used these data in collision-risk models to explore how the use of different methods to determine flight height affects the predicted risk of birds colliding with turbines. 3. Gannets foraged in and around planned wind farm sites. The probability of flying at collision-risk height was low during commuting between colonies and foraging areas (median height 12 m) but was greater during periods of active foraging (median height 27 m), and we estimated that~1500 breeding adults from Bass Rock could be killed by collision with wind turbines at two planned sites in the Firth of Forth region each year. This is up to 12 times greater than the potential mortality predicted using other available flight-height estimates. 4. Synthesis and applications. The use of conventional flight-height estimation techniques resulted in large underestimates of the numbers of birds at risk of colliding with wind turbines. Hence, we recommend using GPS and barometric tracking to derive activity-specific and spatially explicit flight heights and collision risks. Our predictions of potential mortality approached levels at which long-term population viability could be threatened, highlighting a need for further data to refine estimates of collision risks and sustainable mortality thresholds. We also advocate raising the minimum permitted clearance of turbine blades at sites with high potential collision risk from 22 to 30 m above sea level.

show abstract

“…Most of the birds ringed in Alderney were ringed as nestlings (>99%), which creates a problem when calculating the independent estimate of reporting rates in adult birds necessary for dead recovery analysis (Francis 1995). Indeed, Furness & Wanless (2014) highlight the shortcomings in current demographic analysis of Gannets whereby a high proportion of birds ringed are nestlings, and very few adult birds are ringed. Therefore to enable the calculation of survival rates for Alderney's Gannets, we adopted a method previously used by Wanless et al (2006) whereby the birds ringed as nestlings in Alderney were combined with data from birds ringed as adults in the UK in the same time period (a total of 1731 ringed, of which 94 were recovered), allowing the calculation of age-specific survival estimates for juvenile birds specific to Alderney, and adult survival rates as a combination of Alderney and UK birds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the different threats to Gannets in different locations and that these threats will change throughout their life cycle, a robust approach to monitor colonyspecific survival rates must be developed in order to determine which stages of each population are likely to be impacted by changes in local conditions and to what extent (Furness & Wanless 2014). We use 28 years of ringing data to calculate the age-specific survival rates for the Alderney population of Gannets.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival estimates of Northern GannetsMorus bassanusin Alderney: big data but low confidence

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Capsule: There has been a linear increase in the survival rates for both adult and juvenile Northern Gannets Morus bassanus breeding on Alderney in the English Channel. However, given large confidence intervals, improved monitoring is required to better evaluate threats to this population. Aims: To estimate the age-specific survival and reporting rate from an internationally important population of Northern Gannets M. bassanus breeding at one of the southernmost colonies for this species. Methods: We use 28 years of ringing and recovery data in order to estimate age-specific survival and reporting rates. Results: Adult and juvenile survival rates differ, and both survival and reporting rates are considerably lower in first-year birds than older birds. Additionally there is an increasing linear trend in survival rates over time, and a decreasing trend in reporting rates. Conclusion: Threats to Gannets from anthropogenic disturbance are likely to be age and population specific. While these rates point towards continued growth of this population, the confidence intervals around our estimates are large, highlighting the need for improved resighting efforts in long-term studies of this nature.

show abstract

Quantifying the impact of offshore wind farms on Gannet populations: a strategic ringing project

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

East or west? Migration routes and wintering sites of Northern Gannets Morus bassanus from south-eastern Iceland

East or west? Migration routes and wintering sites of Northern Gannets Morus bassanus from south-eastern Iceland

Three‐dimensional tracking of a wide‐ranging marine predator: flight heights and vulnerability to offshore wind farms

Survival estimates of Northern GannetsMorus bassanusin Alderney: big data but low confidence

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About