Wind Farms and Power Lines Have Negative Effects on Territory Occupancy in Eurasian Eagle Owls (Bubo bubo)

Abstract

Wind power is useful for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but the construction and operation might have negative effects on biodiversity. The purpose of this study was to investigate any effects of wind farm and power line construction on territory occupancy in the vulnerable Eurasian eagle owl. We investigated 48 eagle owl territories before and after the whole construction period and a short operation period with the use of sound meters. We found that territorial eagle owls within 4–5 km from the wind farm and power line construction disturbance left their territories to a significantly higher extent (41% reduction in the number of territories with eagle owls) compared with the eagle owls in territories further away (23% reduction). The distance from the nest site to the disturbance was significantly shorter for those territories that were abandoned compared with territories where the birds stayed. Possible reasons for this decline might be a higher mortality caused by collisions, desertion and avoidance of wind power areas caused by the noise and disturbance from their construction. In addition, there are possible indirect effects, for example reductions in prey species may force eagle owls to abandon their territories. The construction period lasted much longer than the period with active wind turbines and power lines in this investigation, but we cannot separate the effects of the two because the investigations were only possible in the eagle owl breeding season, and the wind turbines were activated shortly after the construction period. Our results imply that careful investigations are needed to detect the possible occurrence of eagle owls near any type of construction work. Studies of these territories should strongly influence how and when the construction work can be carried out, but more investigations are needed to find details about the influence of distance.

Wind Farms and Power Lines Reduced the Territory Status and Probability of Fledgling Production in the Eurasian Goshawk Accipiter gentilis

“…Second, desertion and avoidance of wind power areas by goshawks caused by the noise and disturbance from the constructions. Several publications show the negative effects of noise and human disturbance on bird populations [24][25][26]29,30,36,55]. Third, possible indirect effects are that prey species of the goshawks might die or leave the area [31,32] and that the goshawks also leave because less prey is available, but I have no data on the effects of the construction on the abundance of prey species.…”

“…(2) disturbance, especially noise, during the construction period [24][25][26][27][28][29][30], (3) direct mortality [20,23,[31][32][33][34][35], and (4) disturbance due to increased human presence [29,36,37]. Farmland birds decline more near urban areas compared with rural areas with less anthropogenic impact [15].…”

Owls’ Responses to Environmental Challenges

“…This Special Issue focuses on the adaptability of owls to various kinds of environmental changes, including habitat alterations and climate change [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Both direct and indirect effects of climate change on the habitat and food availability of owl populations are considered.…”

“…Both direct and indirect effects of climate change on the habitat and food availability of owl populations are considered. Various populations of the Tawny Owl Strix aluco [ 4 , 7 , 8 ] as well as some other species of owls from Europe [ 5 , 6 , 9 ] and North America [ 10 ] serve as examples.…”

“…Wind power is useful for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but their construction and operation might have negative effects on biodiversity [ 13 , 14 ]. For instance, wind farms and power line construction negatively affect territory occupancy in the vulnerable Norwegian populations of the Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo [ 6 ]. A study showed that the distances from their nest sites to disturbances were significantly shorter for territories they abandoned compared with territories where they stayed.…”