Some offshore wind farms have a significant repelling effect on at least one category of marine birds, scientists said Thursday in a study, which concludes that the development of renewable energy in the future should “avoid amplifying the biodiversity crisis.
Researchers based in Germany analyzed data to measure the impact of wind turbines in the German North Sea on birds of the Loon family (Gaviidae), large duck-like birds. “The distribution and abundance of loons changed substantially in the period before and after the parks were built,” the authors report in the journal Scientific Reports.
Their presence dropped by 94% within 1 km of the parks and by 52% within 10 km. Loons have even almost completely disappeared around two of the parks. “In all cases, the wind turbines created a kind of halo around these constructions,” the authors note. “We are fairly sure that the loons react mostly to the existence and visibility of these structures and less to the movement of the blades,” Stefan Garthe, from the University of Kiel, one of the authors of the study, tells AFP.
“It seems that they avoid all human activity above the surface” and are in particular “very sensitive to maritime traffic”, he notes. The total estimated population around all parks declined by nearly one-third, from 34,865 birds before construction to 24,672 after. “The birds moved away from the wind turbines to gather at the furthest possible distance,” Stefan Garthe emphasizes. “But these new living areas are probably less favorable for bird feeding, or they would have gone there in droves before,” he notes.
The researchers point out that previous studies have shown “significant” negative impacts on other bird species, but none have shown such a “strong and negative” response as loons. “Renewable energy will need to provide a large proportion of our energy demand in the future, but it is necessary to minimize the costs to less adaptable species to avoid amplifying the biodiversity crisis,” the authors conclude.
They call for more studies to determine where wind turbines can be located in the future without sacrificing species conservation objectives.
