Bird Displacement by Wind Turbines: Assessing Current Knowledge and Recommendations for Future Studies

Ana Teresa Marques,Helena Batalha,Joana Bernardino

doi:10.3390/birds2040034

Ana Teresa Marques, Helena Batalha + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/birds2040034

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Abstract

Wind energy developments can be responsible for negative impacts on birds, including displacement. In this study we performed a systematic review of the literature available on bird displacement due to wind turbines, both onshore and offshore, to: (i) assess overall trends in scientific research; (ii) review the existing knowledge; and (iii) outline recommendations for future studies on this topic in order to overcome the major gaps and limitations found. Our results are based on 286 trials extracted from 71 peer-reviewed studies. The literature on this topic has increased in the past decade but is concentrated in Europe and United States, despite the fact that the wind industry has worldwide coverage. Open habitats—as agricultural fields and grasslands—were the most represented and Accipitriformes, Galliformes, Charadriiformes, Anseriformes and Passeriformes were the most frequently studied taxa. Displacement was recorded in 40.6% of the trials, and Gaviiformes, Anseriformes, Suliformes, Accipitriformes and Falconiformes were the most affected groups. Pelecaniformes, Passeriformes and Charadriiformes were the groups for which no significant effects were more often observed. We provide a list of recommendations, focused on study design, reporting and result dissemination, that should contribute to more robust conclusions of future studies on this topic.

Highlights

Besides habitat alterations associated with wind farms, the visual intrusion caused by the turbines, the rotating blades, noise and vibration resulting from turbine operation, and human or vehicle circulation due to the construction or maintenance activities, may cause disturbance to birds, during both the construction and operational phases [3]
We aim to provide a global assessment of current knowledge on bird displacement due to wind turbines, both onshore and offshore
The negative effects of wind farms on bird abundance and space use are frequently reported in the literature, affecting species from different habitats, guilds and phylogeny

Summary

Introduction

Besides habitat alterations associated with wind farms, the visual intrusion caused by the turbines, the rotating blades, noise and vibration resulting from turbine operation, and human or vehicle circulation due to the construction or maintenance activities, may cause disturbance to birds, during both the construction and operational phases [3]. Such activities may trigger an avoidance response that can occur at three spatial scales: macroavoidance when birds avoid the wind-power plant area as a whole, meso-avoidance if turbine arrays or single turbines are avoided, and micro-avoidance, which consists in last-second evasive movements of the rotor blades [5]. Depending on the study design and wind farm layout (with clustered/random turbines) it may not be possible to fully disentangle macro and meso-avoidance

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