Information needs to support environmental impact assessment of the effects of European marine offshore wind farms on birds

European legislation requires Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) of national offshore wind farm (OWF) programmes and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for individual projects likely to affect birds. SEAs require extensive mapping of waterbird densities to define breeding and feeding areas of importance and sensitivity. Use of extensive large scale weather, military, and air traffic control surveillance radar is recommended, to define areas, routes and behaviour of migrating birds, and to determine avian migration corridors in three dimensions. EIAs for individual OWFs should define the key avian species present; as well as assess the hazards presented to birds in terms of avoidance behaviour, habitat change and collision risk. Such measures, however, are less helpful in assessing cumulative impacts. Using aerial survey, physical habitat loss, modification, or gain and effective habitat loss through avoidance behaviour can be measured using bird densities as a proxy measure of habitat availability. The energetic consequences of avoidance responses and habitat change should be modelled to estimate fitness costs and predict impacts at the population level. Our present ability to model collision risk remains poor due to lack of data on species-specific avoidance responses. There is therefore an urgent need to gather data on avoidance responses; energetic consequences of habitat modification and avoidance flights and demographic sensitivity of key species, most affected by OWFs. This analysis stresses the importance of common data collection protocols, sharing of information and experience, and accessibility of results at the international level to better improve our predictive abilities.     

Adverse impacts of wind power generation on collision behaviour of birds and anti-predator behaviour of squirrels

Wind power is a fast-growing energy source for electricity production, and some environmental impacts (e.g. noise and bird collision) are pointed out. Despite extensive land use (2600–6000 m²/MW), it is said that most of these impacts have been resolved by technological development and proper site selection. The results in this paper suggest that: (i) wind farms kill millions of birds yearly around the world, and the high mortality of rare raptors is of particular concern; (ii) wind farms on migration routes are particularly dangerous, and it is difficult to find a wind power site away from migration routes because there is no guarantee that migration routes will not vary; (iii) according to the presented model of collision probability, the rotor speed does not make a significant difference in collision probability; the hub is the most dangerous part, and large birds (e.g. raptors) are at great risk; and, (iv) based on the field observation of squirrels’ vocalisation (i.e. anti-predator behaviour), there are behavioural differences between squirrels at the wind turbine site and those at the control site. Noise from wind turbines (when active) may interfere with the lives of animals beneath the wind turbines.

US Government guidelines and the Bern Convention's report have described adverse impacts of wind energy facilities on wildlife and have put forward recommendations. In addition to these documents, the following points derived from the discussion in this paper should be noted for the purpose of harmonising wind power generation with wildlife conservation: (i) engineers need to develop a turbine form to reduce the collision risk at the hub; (ii) institute long-term monitoring, including a comparison between bird mortality before and after construction; and (iii) further evaluate impacts of turbine noise on anti-predator wildlife vocalisations.     

海上风电场对大型底栖生物影响

海上风电作为一种清洁能源在全球快速发展,其建设和运营皆会对底栖生境造成影响.海上风电对大型底栖生物的影响是研究热点之一.本文对国内外相关研究进行了整理和分析,海上风电场对大型底栖生物的影响主要从以下几个方面展开:栖息地改变、生物多样性变化、禁止拖网作业影响以及促进生态连通性等.未来研究应重点关注海上风电场在更长时间尺度...     

Assessing the impacts of phenotypic plasticity on evolution

In the past decade, there has been a resurgent interest in whether and how phenotypic plasticity might impact evolutionary processes. Of fundamental importance is how the environment influences individual phenotypic development while simultaneously selecting among phenotypic variants in a population. Conceptual and theoretical treatments of the evolutionary implications of plasticity are numerous, as are criticisms of the conclusions. As such, the time is ripe for empirical evidence to catch up with theoretical predictions. To this end, I provide a summary of eight hypotheses at the core of this issue, highlighting various approaches by which they can be tested. My goal is to provide practical guidance to those seeking to understand the complex ways by which phenotypic plasticity can influence evolutionary innovation and diversification.     

The impacts of climate change on the annual cycles of birds

Organisms living today are descended from ancestors that experienced considerable climate change in the past. However, they are currently presented with many new, man-made challenges, including rapid climate change. Migration and reproduction of many avian species are controlled by endogenous mechanisms that have been under intense selection over time to ensure that arrival to and departure from breeding grounds is synchronized with moderate temperatures, peak food availability and availability of nesting sites. The timing of egg laying is determined, usually by both endogenous clocks and local factors, so that food availability is near optimal for raising young. Climate change is causing mismatches in food supplies, snow cover and other factors that could severely impact successful migration and reproduction of avian populations unless they are able to adjust to new conditions. Resident (non-migratory) birds also face challenges if precipitation and/or temperature patterns vary in ways that result in mismatches of food and breeding. Predictions that many existing climates will disappear and novel climates will appear in the future suggest that communities will be dramatically restructured by extinctions and changes in range distributions. Species that persist into future climates may be able to do so in part owing to the genetic heritage passed down from ancestors who survived climate changes in the past.     

Potential impacts of climatic change on European breeding birds

Background

Climatic change is expected to lead to changes in species'' geographical ranges. Adaptation strategies for biodiversity conservation require quantitative estimates of the magnitude, direction and rates of these potential changes. Such estimates are of greatest value when they are made for large ensembles of species and for extensive (sub-continental or continental) regions.

Methodology/Principal Findings

For six climate scenarios for 2070–99 changes have been estimated for 431 European breeding bird species using models relating species'' distributions in Europe to climate. Mean range centroid potentially shifted 258–882 km in a direction between 341° (NNW) and 45° (NE), depending upon the climate scenario considered. Potential future range extent averaged 72–89% of the present range, and overlapped the present range by an average of 31–53% of the extent of the present range. Even if potential range changes were realised, the average number of species breeding per 50×50 km grid square would decrease by 6·8–23·2%. Many species endemic or near-endemic to Europe have little or no overlap between their present and potential future ranges; such species face an enhanced extinction risk as a consequence of climatic change.

Conclusions/Significance

Although many human activities exert pressures upon wildlife, the magnitude of the potential impacts estimated for European breeding birds emphasises the importance of climatic change. The development of adaptation strategies for biodiversity conservation in the face of climatic change is an urgent need; such strategies must take into account quantitative evidence of potential climatic change impacts such as is presented here.     

Assessing the impacts of genetically modified microorganisms

The progression towards greater industrial sustainability involves the analysis of biotechnology as a means of achieving clean or cleaner products and processes. Because living systems manage their chemistry more efficiently than man-made factories, and their wastes tend to be recyclable and biodegradable, they can be expected to be more environmentally clean. Industry has begun to use enzymes instead of traditional catalysts in many industrial production processes. The future holds obstacles as well as opportunities for biotechnological applications. A greater ability to manipulate biological materials and processes will have significant impact on manufacturing industries. A growing proportion of biotechnologyderived processes and products is based on the use of genetically modified microorganisms. This extends the analysis from the aspect of cleanliness to the aspect of safety.     

Life cycle assessment of wind farms in Ethiopia

Purpose

The overall aim of this study is to contribute to the creation of LCA database on electricity generation systems in Ethiopia. This study specifically estimates the environmental impacts associated with wind power systems supplying high voltage electricity to the national grid. The study has regional significance as the Ethiopian electric system is already supplying electricity to Sudan and Djibouti and envisioned to supply to other countries in the region.

Materials and methods

Three different grid-connected wind power systems consisting of four different models of wind turbines with power rates between 1 and 1.67 MW were analyzed for the situation in Ethiopia. The assessment takes into account all the life cycle stages of the total system, cradle to grave, considering all the processes related to the wind farms: raw material acquisition, manufacturing of main components, transporting to the wind farm, construction, operation and maintenance, and the final dismantling and waste treatment. The study has been developed in line with the main principles of the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standard procedures. The analysis is done using SimaPro software 8.0.3.14 multi-user, Ecoinvent database version 3.01, and ReCiPe 2008 impact assessment method. The assumed operational lifetime as a baseline is 20 years.

Results and discussion

The average midpoint environmental impact of Ethiopian wind power system per kWh electricity generated is for climate change: 33.6 g CO₂ eq., fossil depletion: 8 g oil eq., freshwater ecotoxicity: 0.023 g 1,4-DCB eq., freshwater eutrophication: 0.005 g N eq., human toxicity: 9.9 g 1,4-DCB eq., metal depletion: 18.7 g Fe eq., marine ecotoxicity: 0.098 g 1,4-DCB eq., particulate matter formation: 0.097 g PM10 eq., photochemical oxidant formation: 0.144 g NMVOC, and terrestrial acidification: 0.21 g SO₂ eq. The pre-operation phase that includes the upstream life cycle stage is the largest contributor to all the environmental impacts, with shares ranging between 82 and 96%. The values of cumulative energy demand (CED) and energy return on investment (EROI) for the wind power system are 0.393 MJ and 9.2, respectively.

Conclusion

The pre-operation phase is the largest contributor to all the environmental impact categories. The sensitivity and scenario analyses indicate that changes in wind turbine lifespans, capacity factors, exchange rates for parts, transport routes, and treatment activities would result in significant changes in the LCA results.

     

Impact of wind farms on soaring bird populations at a migratory bottleneck

Collision with turbines at wind farms is expected to have a greater impact on birds at particular sites where high concentrations of individuals occur, such as migration bottleneck areas. The Strait of Gibraltar (southern Spain) has long been recognized as the most important bottleneck in western Europe for soaring bird migration. Moreover, this area is within one of the most important potential areas for wind energy generation in Spain. Here, we examine monthly migratory soaring bird abundance in relation to long-term avian mortality rates at 21 wind farms located near the Strait of Gibraltar using zero-inflated hurdle negative binomial and gamma models. Best fit models included an effect of season in the collision mortality rates and in the proportion of adult individuals within the total deaths. However, monthly bird abundance was not directly related to the number of fatalities over the year. The accumulated fatalities during autumn migration constitute a small percentage (1%) of the total migrating population size. Moreover, mortality peak during autumn migration is largely attributable to juvenile birds. In contrast, the number of fatalities coinciding with the breeding period constitutes a substantial proportion (6%) of the local population, and it involved substantial losses among adult birds. Our results show that wind farms probably have an individually low impact on the migratory population of soaring birds. On the contrary, annual losses among adult local birds are remarkably high considering the small size of the local populations, and they may have population level effects.     

Impact of wind turbines on birds in Zeebrugge (Belgium)

We studied the impact of a wind farm (line of 25 small to medium sized turbines) on birds at the eastern port breakwater in Zeebrugge, Belgium, with special attention to the nearby breeding colony of Common Tern Sterna hirundo, Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis and Little Tern Sterna albifrons. With the data of found collision fatalities under the wind turbines, and the correction factors for available search area, search efficiency and scavenging, we calculated that during the breeding seasons in 2004 and 2005, about 168 resp. 161 terns collided with the wind turbines located on the eastern port breakwater close to the breeding colony, mainly Common Terns and Sandwich Terns. The mean number of terns killed in 2004 and 2005 was 6.7 per turbine per year for the whole wind farm, and 11.2 resp. 10.8 per turbine per year for the line of 14 turbines on the sea-directed breakwater close to the breeding colony. The mean number of collision fatalities when including other species (mainly gulls) in 2004 and 2005 was 20.9 resp. 19.1 per turbine per year for the whole wind farm and 34.3 resp. 27.6 per turbine per year for 14 turbines on the sea-directed breakwater. The collision probability for Common Terns crossing the line of wind turbines amounted 0.110–0.118% for flights at rotor height and 0.007–0.030% for all flights. For Sandwich Tern this probability was 0.046–0.088% for flights at rotor height and 0.005–0.006% for all flights. The breeding terns were almost not disturbed by the wind turbines, but the relative large number of tern fatalities was determined as a significant negative impact on the breeding colony at the eastern port breakwater (additional mortality of 3.0–4.4% for Common Tern, 1.8–6.7% for Little Tern and 0.6–0.7% for Sandwich Tern). We recommend that there should be precautionary avoidance of constructing wind turbines close to any important breeding colony of terns or gulls, nor should artificial breeding sites be constructed near wind turbines, especially not within the frequent foraging flight paths.     

Assessing the impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity: a British perspective

Agricultural intensification is best considered as the level of human appropriation of terrestrial net primary production. The global value is set to increase from 30%, increasing pressures on biodiversity. The pressures can be classified in terms of spatial scale, i.e. land cover, landscape management and crop management. Different lowland agricultural landscapes in Great Britain show differences among these pressures when habitat diversity and nutrient surplus are used as indicators. Eutrophication of plants was correlated to N surplus, and species richness of plants correlated with broad habitat diversity. Bird species diversity only correlated with habitat diversity when the diversity of different agricultural habitats was taken into account. The pressures of agricultural change may be reduced by minimizing loss of large habitats, minimizing permanent loss of agricultural land, maintaining habitat diversity in agricultural landscapes in order to provide ecosystem services, and minimizing pollution from nutrients and pesticides from the crops themselves. While these pressures could potentially be quantified using an internationally consistent set of indicators, their impacts would need to be assessed using a much larger number of locally applicable biodiversity indicators.     

Potential impact of wind farms on territories of large eagles in southeastern Spain

Although wind farms in Spain have increased in numbers in recent years, their impact on birds, particularly large raptors, has received relatively little attention in the scientific literature. We study the potential impact of 72 wind energy developments planned for the south-east of Spain covering 128 golden eagle and 152 Bonelli’s eagle territories using nearest neighbour distances (NND) as an indicator of potential future interactions (abandonment, displacement and collision risk). Our analyses indicate low levels of potential interactions between wind farms and large eagles, and suggest that, of the two species studied, golden eagles will be the more affected because a greater proportion of wind farms will be constructed close to the breeding territories of this species. In the light of these findings, we discuss various management strategies in order to improve the compatibility of harvesting wind energy with the conservation of both species.     

The problem of estimating wind drift in migrating birds

Whether migrating birds compensate for wind drift or not is a fundamental question in bird migration research. The procedures to demonstrate and quantitatively estimate wind drift or compensation are fraught with difficulties and pitfalls. In this paper, we evaluate four methods that have been used in several studies over the past decades. We evaluate the methods by analysing a model migratory movement with a realistic scatter in flight directions, for the ideal cases of full drift and complete compensation. Results obtained with the different methods are then compared with the "true behaviour" of the model movement, illustrating that spurious patterns of drift and compensation arise in some cases. We also illustrate and evaluate the different methods of estimating drift for a real case, based on tracking radar measurements of bird migration in relation to winds. Calculating the linear regression of mean geographic track (resulting flight direction) and heading directions (directions of the birds' body axis) of a migratory movement under different wind conditions in relation to the angle alpha (the angle between mean track and heading) always provides robust and reliable results. Comparing mean flight directions between occasions with winds from the left and right of the mean flight direction of the whole migratory movement also always provides expected and correct measures of drift. In contrast, regressions of individual flight directions in relation to alpha (the angle between track and heading for the specific individuals or flocks) are liable to produce biased and spurious results, overestimating compensation/overcompensation if following winds dominate in the analysis and overestimating drift/overdrift if opposed winds are dominating. Comparing mean directions for cases with winds from the left and right in relation to individual flight directions also gives biased and spurious results unless there is full variation in wind directions or an equal distribution of crosswinds from left and right. The results of the methodological evaluation and the analysis of the real case indicate that some earlier analyses of wind drift may have to be re-evaluated.     

Assessing the merits of bioenergy by estimating marginal climate-change impacts

Purpose

Climate-change impacts can be mitigated through greater use of bioenergy, but the extent to which specific options actually reduce overall impacts needs to be assessed. Most bioenergy assessments have used proxy measures for assessing its merits. Here, a new approach is presented, whereby the contribution of bioenergy use is assessed through quantifying marginal changes in climate-change impacts that result from the implementation of a bioenergy option.

Methods

Marginal climate-change impacts were calculated for one specific example of a bioenergy option, conversion of an unutilised mature forest into a production forest harvested repeatedly for bioenergy over successive 25-year rotations. The overall benefit of the option was assessed by including stand-level carbon dynamics, global carbon-cycle feedback, progressively changing radiative efficiency and marginal impact sensitivity of warming. It also includes a differentiated assessment of three kinds of climatic impacts: direct-warming, rate-of-warming and cumulative-warming impacts. Marginal impacts were calculated and summed over 100 years to assess the overall marginal impact of this bioenergy option.

Results and discussion

Bioenergy use in this specific example led to a large initial loss of biomass carbon followed by an ongoing and accumulating benefit through fossil-fuel substitution. This caused adverse climatic impacts over the first two rotations as the effects of the on-site carbon loss dominated the overall impact, but the option became increasingly beneficial over longer time frames as the benefit of fossil-fuel substitution accrued and eventually dominated. Summed over 100 years, the bioenergy option reduced direct-temperature and rate-of-warming impacts whilst increasing cumulative-warming impacts. The average of the three kinds of impacts showed a slight mitigation benefit by reducing overall impacts. In the particular example, bioenergy use was assessed to have a more beneficial effect if the analysis was carried out under the assumption of higher-emission concentrations pathways, or if it assumed a steeper relationship between climate perturbations and impacts.

Conclusions

The usefulness of any climate-change mitigation option ultimately relates to the marginal climate-change impacts it can avert. It is shown here that marginal impacts can be calculated in routine operation and that they can provide an objective and methodologically consistent assessment of the mitigation potential of bioenergy use.

     

Assessing the impacts of war on perceived conservation capacity and threats to biodiversity

The impacts of war and violent conflicts on biodiversity may vary widely across time and different contexts. However, our understanding of the complex effects of war is limited in most cases due to a lack of study or methodological limitations. We examine the impact of war on conservation in the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone, a biodiversity hotspot and a site of civil war between 1997 and 2002. We utilize a novel combination of methods, including threat reduction assessment (24 focus groups), structured survey (n = 842) and semi-structured interviews (n = 37). We find that perceived threats to biodiversity varied in space and time and increased after the cessation of conflict. We also find that conservation capacity was perceived to be at its lowest during the war, but did not rebound significantly directly after the conflict. These data indicate the importance of maintaining conservation capacity during conflict, and immediately building capacity following conflict, to mitigate increased levels of threat. Our approach also emphasizes the need to assess both conservation threats and capacity to evaluate the full effect of war.     

A parametric whole life cost model for offshore wind farms

Purpose

Life cycle cost (LCC) considerations are of increasing importance to offshore wind farm operators and their insurers to undertake long-term profitable investments and to make electricity generation more price-competitive. This paper presents a cost breakdown structure (CBS) and develops a whole life cost (WLC) analysis framework for offshore wind farms throughout their life span (～25 years).

Methods

A combined multivariate regression/neural network approach is developed to identify key cost drivers and evaluate all the costs associated with five phases of offshore wind projects, namely pre-development and consenting (P&C), production and acquisition (P&A), installation and commissioning (I&C), operation and maintenance (O&M) and decommissioning and disposal (D&D). Several critical factors such as geographical location and meteorological conditions, rated power and capacity factor of wind turbines, reliability of sub-systems and availability and accessibility of transportation means are taken into account in cost calculations. The O&M costs (including the cost of renewal and replacement, cost of lost production, cost of skilled maintenance labour and logistics cost) are assessed using the data available in failure databases (e.g. fault logs and O&M reports) and the data supplied by inspection agencies. A net present value (NPV) approach is used to quantify the current value of future cash flows, and then, a bottom-up estimate of the overall cost is obtained.

Results and discussion

The proposed model is tested on an offshore 500-MW baseline wind farm project, and the results are compared to experimental ones reported in the literature. Our results indicate that the capital cost of wind turbines and their installation costs account for the largest proportion of WLC, followed by the O&M costs. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to identify those factors having the greatest impact on levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

Conclusions

The installed capacity of a wind farm, distance from shore and fault detection capability of the condition monitoring system are identified as parameters with significant influence on LCOE. Since the service lifetime of a wind farm is relatively long, a small change in interest rate leads to a large variation in the project’s total cost. The presented models not only assist stakeholders in evaluating the performance of ongoing projects but also help the wind farm developers reduce their costs in the medium–long term.