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Resource Documents: Impacts (133 items)
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Unless indicated otherwise, documents presented here are not the product of nor are they necessarily endorsed by National Wind Watch. Nor should it be implied that the sources and writers endorse National Wind Watch. These resource documents are shared here to assist people 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. • The copyrights reside with the sources indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations.
Evaluating interactive effects of the Conservation Reserve Program and wind energy infrastructure on grassland bird abundance in the United States
Author: McGarrigle, Samantha; et al.
Abstract: The extent of grasslands has contracted globally, leading to significant declines in grassland-obligate species, including birds. Grassland birds are threatened by multiple factors, including grassland conversion to cropland, and development, including energy infrastructure. In the USA, the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides financial incentives for agricultural landowners to convert marginal cropland to vegetative covers, including grassland, making it a key approach to recovering grasslands. However, given the high percentage of wind turbines near Conservation Reserve Program land, it . . .
More »Mistimed surveys lead to underestimated migratory bird impacts from wind farms
Author: Shi, Xu; et al.
Abstract: Accurately estimating the likelihood of occurrence of threatened species is essential for effective impact assessments at development sites. Current survey guidelines often rely on coarse, static species distribution maps, risking misalignment for migratory birds present only seasonally. We evaluated 70 wind farms in eastern Australia to assess the alignment between survey timing and seasonal occurrence of four migratory species. Using eBird-based relative abundance models, we classified recommended and actual survey periods as optimal, suboptimal or poorly timed. Approximately half . . .
More »Disrupted Skies: How Offshore Wind Farms Alter Flight Behavior of Breeding Seabirds
Author: Liang, Waner; et al.
ABSTRACT: Offshore wind farms are expanding rapidly as part of global climate mitigation efforts, but their effects on seabird movement behavior remain incompletely understood. While collision risk has received substantial attention, less is known about how turbines may alter flight routes through evasive behavior and meso-avoidance, particularly near breeding colonies where repeated commuting flights may accumulate energetic costs. We investigated flight responses of breeding Bridled Terns (Onychoprion anaethetus) to offshore wind turbines near their colony using high-resolution satellite tracking data . . .
More »Mapping the Evidence for Cumulative Adverse Effects of Offshore Wind Installations on Birds
Author: Green-Tkacenko, Leon; Allen, Michael; and Lockwood, Julie
Abstract: Offshore wind (OSW) energy is rapidly expanding worldwide as countries aim to decarbonize their electrical grids. However, as OSW scales up to meet increasing demand, concerns about cumulative environmental effects have mounted. Over the past decade, empirical and theoretical studies on cumulative effects, especially on birds, have increased apace. We conducted a systematic review of the empirical literature on birds stored in the energy impact repository Tethys to determine how often different categories of evidence identified as important for . . .
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