Resource Library Category: Wildlife (109 items)
Documents presented here are not the product of nor are they necessarily endorsed by National Wind Watch. This resource library is provided to assist anyone wishing to research the issue of industrial wind power and the impacts of its development. The information should be evaluated by each reader to come to their own conclusions about the many areas of debate.
New publications on bats and wind turbines
Author: Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 90
Cryan, Paul; and Barclay, Robert. 2009. Causes of Bat Fatalities at Wind Turbines: Hypotheses and Predictions. Journal of Mammalogy 90, 1330-1340.
Abstract. Thousands of industrial-scale wind turbines are being built across the world each year to meet the growing demand for sustainable energy. Bats of certain species are dying at wind turbines in unprecedented numbers.Species of bats consistently affected by turbines tend to be those that rely on trees as roosts and most migrate long distances. Although considerable progress has . . .
Aesthetics, Environment, Health, Human rights, Maine, Noise, Property values, Regulations, Siting, Technology, Wildlife •
Residents of Vinalhaven, Maine, speak about wind turbine noise
Author: WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine
Vinalhaven residents discuss what it has been like living with the windpower project on the island. Produced by Mark Elwin.
archives.weru.org/voices
Weekend Voices 12/19/09
Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Large scale risk-assessment of wind-farms on population viability of a globally endangered long-lived raptor
Author: Carrete, Martina; Sánchez-Zapata, José; Benítez, José; Lobón, Manuel; and Donázar, José
A B S T R A C T
Wind-farms receive public and governmental support as an alternative energy source mitigating air pollution. However, they can have adverse effects on wildlife, particularly through collision with turbines. Research on wind-farm effects has focused on estimating mortality rates, behavioural changes or interspecific differences in vulnerability. Studies dealing with their effects on endangered or rare species populations are notably scarce. We tested the hypothesis that wind-farms increase extinction probability of long-lived species through increments in . . .
They’re Not Green Episode 6
Author: Peña, Nettie
Golden Eagles along with thousand of other birds are killed yearly by wind turbines at Altamont Pass. Dr. Shawn Smallwood, biologist, has collected data on the bird fatalities at Altamont Pass since 1999. He is convinced that the process of approving Wind Farms in rural communities has become corrupt.
They’re Not Green web site
Location, Location, Location … Migration, Migration, Migration
Author: Wegner, Wayne
Clearly, the shorelines of Ontario’s Great Lakes are altars upon which naturalists worship. On peak days, it’s possible to see more hawks, monarch butterflies and other migrants than almost anywhere else in North America. In very few other locations on earth can you find these ideal conditions to watch the miracle of migration unfold. Yet a threat looms large on the horizon which could unravel that miracle in the coming decades: the Industrial Wind Turbine (IWT). …
Download original document: “Location, Location, . . .
They’re Not Green Episode 5
Author: Peña, Nettie
Politicians ignore the voices of their constituents regarding windmills. The wind turbines kill birds and bats. The Leaf-Nosed Bat, once abundant in Southern California, has disappeared from the desert by San Jacinto Mountains.
They’re Not Green web site
Bird species of concern at wind farms in New Zealand
Author: Powlesland, R. G.
ABSTRACT
Wind generation currently contributes about 1.5% of New Zealand’s energy production, but the forecast rapid expansion in wind farm construction is likely to take this to close to 20% over the next 10 years. To date, no published studies are available giving accounts of the impacts of wind farms on birdlife in New Zealand; therefore, part of the challenge is to determine which species are likely to be adversely affected by wind farm construction and operation here. This resource document . . .
Range management practices to reduce wind turbine impacts on burrowing owls and other raptors in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California
Author: East Bay Regional Park District
Abstract: The East Bay Regional Park District studied the impacts of wind turbines on raptors at its properties in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA). Several studies were conducted to provide information useful to reducing impacts to raptors due to construction or repowering of wind farms. The studies’ objectives included determining whether vegetation height can be managed to affect the distribution of small mammals near wind turbines to reduce risk to raptors, determining the effectiveness of seasonal wind . . .
What’s it like to live in a Wisconsin wind farm?
Author: Barry, Lynda
Wisconsin writer Lynda Barry has been interviewing wind farm residents for a book she is putting together that answers the question, “What’s it like to live in a Wisconsin wind farm?” She’s interviewed people from 20 households in both the Blue Sky/Green Field wind farm near the Town of Malone and also the Invenergy Forward Energy wind farm near the Town of Byron. Both wind farms have a setback of 1000 feet from non-participating homes.
This excerpt, from the up-coming book, . . .
Wind turbine placement must consider vibration effect on animals
Author: Armstrong, Kay
When researching the impact the impacts of industrial wind turbines on migration of birds and bats, please consider the following:
I live in close proximity to a wind farm on the north shore of Lake Erie, the closest turbine being 460 meters from my property of 2.4 acres.
This wind farm is located in Clear Creek, Ontario and is comprised of 18 – 1.65 MW Vestas V82’s.
It is an extension of the Erie Shores Wind Farm in Port Burwell Ontario, a wind . . .
