Wind Farm Predator Effects Ecosystem - via Herp Digest

The team observed an explosion in the raptors' favorite meal - fan-throated lizards - in areas dominated by the turbines.

by James Marshall, 11/8/18, Lancashire Independent News

"We found that people began to settle closer because of birds of prey became less of their population in the area of wind farms fell by 75%".

After testing, the lizards near the turbines were found to have lower levels of a stress hormone - something that must have emerged in the two decades since wind farms were built in the Western Ghats.

In particular, the team observed an explosion in the raptors' favorite meal - fan-throated lizards - in areas dominated by the turbines.

Researchers of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, found that wind turbines can act as top predators in ecosystems by driving down numbers as well as activity of birds of prey and triggering knock-on effects across food chains - it results in an increase in the density of vertebrates like lizards on the ground.

Fan-Throated Lizard 

The study was done in the Chalkewadi plateau in Satara district in the northern Western Ghats which is the site of one of the largest and longest-running wind farms in the region.

Ornithologists already named wind turbines "predators of our time". Researchers found nearly four times more predatory birds in areas without wind turbines than around wind farms. Here are a large number of wind power plants, which provoke the extinction of these birds, and lizards. They suggested similar effects would also probably be found around British wind farms.

In order to record changes in the physiology of lizards, researchers measured hormonal stress reactivity. Blood samples were collected from lizards picked up from both sites - areas with wind farm and area without wind farms.

By now, it's common knowledge that wind turbines reduce the number of local birds and bats, disrupting their migratory paths.

Furthermore, they saw significant changes in lizard behavior and appearance, living as though they were in an essentially predator-free environment. However, the assumption that wind turbines only affect flying species fails to take into account how fewer birds, who are often predators, can change an ecosystem's dynamic.

Scottish Natural Heritage objects to windfarm plans

Windfarm would affect wild land - SNH
May 2012. A proposed 22-turbine windfarm at Sallachy, north of Lairg in Sutherland, would result in the loss of a large area of wild land, according to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

In objecting to the proposals, SNH has also highlighted the adverse effect the development would have on the Assynt and Coigach National Scenic Area (NSA), and the potential impacts on a range of other important sites for wild birds and habitats.

Confirming the organisation's objection, SNH's director of operations, Andrew Bachell, said: "We support renewable energy as a means of tackling climate change. Our role is to provide information and advice to help decision makers balance the needs of the industry with those of nature and landscape, and get the right developments in the right places.

"Wild land is a scarce national resource, and most of it is in the Highlands. This particular area in Sutherland has remained free from windfarms and we don't think the concerns we have raised can be addressed to the extent that would be required to protect the wild land. We have been advising the developer and their consultants since 2008 so at least our advice, and the reasons behind it, will come as no surprise."


http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/windfarm-objection.html

Windfarms: bird mortality cover-up in the UK

The British public is being misinformed regarding bird mortality at wind farms, denounce Save the Eagles International (STEI) and the World Council for Nature (WCFN). It is contrary to fact to pretend that these industrial structures are “carefully sited” so as to avoid risks to birds and bats. It is equally false to allege that grouse and other ground-nesting birds don’t mind laying their eggs under wind turbines, or that raptors avoid these dangerous areas.

In a recent article, The Guardian states: “Studies in the UK had found evidence that birds of prey in particular avoided wind farms” (1). But if you look closely at the picture shown in the article, you’ll notice that the two birds flying between the turbines are raptors, red kites, in fact, which were reintroduced in the UK at great cost. “So! - they avoid wind farms, eh?” – quips STEI’s President Mark Duchamp.

In Germany, where a few wind farms have been loosely monitored for bird and bat mortality, the government has disclosed the number of carcasses reported so far: 69 eagles, 186 kites, 192 buzzards, 13 harriers, 59 falcons, 12 hawks, 7 ospreys, plus hundreds more birds of all sizes and even more bats (2). “These figures are just a small sample of the ongoing massacre”, comments Duchamp, who cites this example:  “Ubbo Mammen, an ornithologist commissioned by the German government, estimates that 200-300 Red Kites are being killed yearly by wind turbines in Germany” (3). These machines are driving many rare species into extinction, warns Mark.

Continued:  http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/46021

Shetland Islands to host 'world's most productive' windfarm

Windfarm given go ahead despite local opposition, and should produce enough energy to power 175,000 homes.

A major windfarm on Shetland, which could be the most productive in the world, has been approved by ministers despite a bitterly fought campaign against the scheme by local residents.

The Viking windfarm will straddle the hills and moors of Shetland's main island, where the onshore wind speeds are frequently the highest in Europe, and lead to earnings of £30m a year for islanders and Shetland's wealthy charitable trust.

The project has been cut in size by Fergus Ewing, the Scottish energy minister, from 127 turbines to 103, to protect safety for Scatsta airport near Sullom Voe oil terminal.

The joint venture between energy giant SSE and Viking Energy Ltd, owned by the trust, will have 370MW capacity and is expected to generate enough energy for 175,000 homes – sixteen times the number of homes on Shetland.

One small turbine on a hill north of Lerwick, called Betsy, already holds a world record for its efficiency, reaching 59% of its potential output, thanks to the consistently powerful winds which sweep Shetland.

The developers said that meant the Viking scheme had the potential to be the most productive in the world. Councillor Bill Manson, chairman of Viking Energy Partnership, said: "This is good news for Shetland, good news for Scotland and good news for the fight against climate change."

The Viking scheme has been vigorously opposed by many Shetland residents, who have complained about its dominant position through the centre of the main island, and its impact on the scenery and recreation value of the moors and hills.

Read on:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/04/shetland-islands-windfarm-scotland-energy?newsfeed=true

Wind farms threat to geese examined

Barnacle geese heading to the Arctic for the summer have been tagged with satellite trackers to find out more about their migration amid concern planned wind farms could get in their way.


The Svalbard barnacle goose, which overwinters in the Solway Firth, saw numbers plummet to just 300 by the 1940s but the population has recovered to some 30,000 today.

But now experts at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) are concerned planned offshore wind farms in the Firth of Forth and off the UK coast could prove an obstacle for the birds.

Dr Larry Griffin, WWT principal research officer, has tagged 25 geese in the past with GPS tags and tracked their spring migrations over four years.

He said the bird's main flight corridor takes them into sites earmarked for new turbines as part of the UK's planned massive expansion in offshore wind power.

Dr Griffin is concerned the geese arrive in the area in the hours of darkness and are flying through in low light or resting on the sea for a few hours.

So he has tagged five adult male geese this year at Caerlaverock Wetland Centre on the Solway Firth before they head off this month to the High Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

He is hoping to fill in gaps in his data to find out the altitude the birds are flying at and whether they are resting on the sea in the areas, using improved solar-powered GPS which could have enough battery to track them at night.

By tracking the birds online during their migration, he also hopes to see how they cope with existing wind farms they encounter on the Norwegian coast. And for those farms potentially being developed in Scottish territorial waters, where the sites are more fixed, Dr Griffin suggested mitigation measures might be put in place.

These could include the arrangement of the turbines in a different way to make them less of an obstacle, or putting lights on them to make them more obvious.

http://news.uk.msn.com/environment/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=152959492