The presence of wind turbines repels bats in boreal forests

Gaultier, Simon; Lilley, Thomas M.; Vesterinen, Eero J.; Brommer, Jon E.

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104636

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…While we do not have multiple years to compare in this study, we found rapid changes in bat activity across sites and within the season. Recently there have been several exciting studies published on the ecology of bats in the Fennoscandian region using broadscale acoustic monitoring (Vasko et al 2020, Blomberg et al 2021, Gaultier et al 2023, Kotila et al 2023) which reported similar seasonal bat activity patterns to our findings. Kotila et al (2023) reported seasonal activity patterns of E. nilssonii (LRE foraging guild) and Myotis spp.…”

Section: Bat Activity Response To Weather and Seasonal Patternssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Gaultier et al (2023) and Ellerbrok et al (2022) both monitored bats at wind parks in European forested landscapes in the same period as this study and found similar avoidance effects; Myotis spp. activity was more likely to be recorded further from turbines.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Habitat fragmentation and degradation could also explain avoidance effects (Lesiński 2007, Barré et al 2018, especially if turbine development causes insect declines and subsequently reduces foraging habitat (Rydell et al 2010b, Millon et al 2015. Gaultier et al (2023) and Ellerbrok et al (2022) both monitored bats at wind parks in European forested landscapes in the same period as this study and found similar avoidance effects; Myotis spp. activity was more likely to be recorded further from turbines.…”

Section: Avoidance Effects and Fatal Attractionssupporting

confidence: 58%

“…Ours is one of few studies that brings attention to the risks to bats at wind parks in the Fennoscandian region, and it can be used to draw insights on how to develop bat monitoring techniques in similar forested wind parks. Building wind parks in forests is common in the Fennoscandian region (Gaultier et al 2020(Gaultier et al , 2023 and development is predicted to increase (Enevoldsen 2016, Enevoldsen andPermien 2018). The 'green-on-green' dilemma (Straka et al 2020) posed by expanding wind energies at the cost of biodiversity requires interdisciplinary, open science and international collaborations.…”

Section: Management Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such development can also displace species that require forest cover and/or are sensitive to the sounds and presence of turbines by degrading the habitat, resulting in broad cascading effects (Barré et al 2018, Roemer et al 2019). Ellerbrok et al (2022) and Gaultier et al (2023) both recently found that bats, especially those adapted to flying in cluttered habitat, were deterred by the presence of wind turbines in northern Europe. These studies emphasize the importance of acknowledging habitat loss from wind turbines as a risk to bats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind energy development can lead to guild‐specific habitat loss in boreal forest bats

McKay,

Johns,

Bischof

et al. 2024

Wildlife Biology

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Forest management rarely considers protecting bats in Fennoscandian regions although all species rely on forest habitat at some point in their annual cycle. This issue is especially evident as wind parks have increasingly been developed inside Fennoscandian forests, against the advice of international bat conservation guidelines. In this study, we aimed to describe and explain bat community dynamics at a Norwegian wind park located in a boreal forest, especially to understand potential avoidance or attraction effects. The bat community was sampled acoustically and described using foraging guilds (short, medium, and long‐range echolocators; SRE, MRE, LRE) as well as behavior (commuting, feeding and social calls). Sampling was undertaken at two locations per turbine: 1) the turbine pad and 2) a paired natural habitat at ground level, as well as from a meteorological tower. We used a recently developed method for camera trapping nocturnal flying insects synchronously with bat acoustic activity. Our results reveal trends in feeding and general bat activity across foraging guilds in relation to insect availability, habitat type, wind, temperature, and seasonality. We show how seasonal patterns in behavior across guilds were affected by habitat type, temperature, and wind. We found that SRE commuting and especially feeding activity was highest in natural habitats, whereas LRE overall activity at habitats more season dependent. We found that nocturnal insect availability was positively correlated with total bat feeding activity throughout the night. Our results provide evidence for both direct and indirect risks to bat communities by wind parks: SRE bat habitat is lost to wind energy infrastructure and LRE bat may have an increased risk of fatality. Our findings provide important insights on seasonal and spatial variability in bat activity, which can inform standardizing monitoring of bats acoustically in boreal forests, at wind parks, and in combination with non‐invasive insect monitoring.

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Section: Bat Activity Response To Weather and Seasonal Patternssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Avoidance Effects and Fatal Attractionssupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Management Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind energy development can lead to guild‐specific habitat loss in boreal forest bats

McKay,

Johns,

Bischof

et al. 2024

Wildlife Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Quantifying land impacts of wind energy: a regional-scale assessment in Finland

Balotari-Chiebáo,

Byholm

2024

Environ Dev Sustain

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Large-scale deployment of wind energy raises ecological concerns about land use changes. Here, we conducted a quantitative assessment of land impacts of 42 wind farms (513 turbines) from Ostrobothnia, Finland. Located on the Baltic Sea coast, Ostrobothnia is a strategic region for national wind energy targets. Our main objectives were (1) to calculate landscape metrics (e.g., habitat composition, loss and fragmentation) within wind farm project areas, (2) compare the amount of building-related deforestation between project areas and simulation-based control areas and (3) compute the overlap between project areas and regional land use plans. According to CORINE Land Cover datasets, the predominant habitats within project areas were forests (371.7 km2; 81%) and transitional forests (52.7 km2; 11%). The remaining 8% were agricultural areas (17.6 km2; 4%), waters (12.5 km2; 3%) and artificial surfaces (2.9 km2; 1%). Wind farm infrastructure corresponded to 1.4-6.0% of project areas and caused similar degrees of habitat fragmentation. Deforestation levels in project areas were higher (~ 6 times on average) than in control areas, and the micro-siting of turbines did not avoid mature forests by favouring e.g., transitional forests (which are ecologically less valuable). We found some spatial incongruence between project areas and regional land use plans, with 78 turbines falling outside the established boundaries. Our results highlight the need for careful ecological considerations in wind energy spatial planning in Finland (and countries with similar landscapes and land uses) to limit forest loss and its detrimental impacts on forest-dependent species, but also on carbon storage and sequestration.

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