Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect
Bats are protected by national and international legislation in European countries, yet many species, particularly migratory aerial insectivores, collide with wind turbines which counteracts conservation efforts. Within the European Union it is legally required to curtail the operation of wind turbi...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e697078adf5e4669bcf4831cf17a8d11 2023-05-15T17:48:39+02:00 Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect Christian C. Voigt Klara Kaiser Samantha Look Kristin Scharnweber Carolin Scholz 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02149 https://doaj.org/article/e697078adf5e4669bcf4831cf17a8d11 EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422001512 https://doaj.org/toc/2351-9894 2351-9894 doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02149 https://doaj.org/article/e697078adf5e4669bcf4831cf17a8d11 Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol 37, Iss , Pp e02149- (2022) Green-green dilemma Wind energy bat conflict Wildlife casualties Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02149 2022-12-31T02:38:07Z Bats are protected by national and international legislation in European countries, yet many species, particularly migratory aerial insectivores, collide with wind turbines which counteracts conservation efforts. Within the European Union it is legally required to curtail the operation of wind turbines at periods of high bat activity, yet this is not practiced at old wind turbines. Based on data from the national carcass repository in Germany and from our own carcass searches at a wind park with three turbines west of Berlin, we evaluated the magnitude of bat casualties at old, potentially poor-sited wind turbines operating without curtailment. We report 88 documented bat carcasses collected by various searchers over the 20-year operation period of this wind park from 2001 to 2021. Common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) and common pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) were most often found dead at these turbines. Our search campaign in August and September 2021 yielded a total of 18 carcasses. We estimated that at least 209 bats were likely killed during our field survey, yielding more than 70 casualties/wind turbine or 39 casualties/MW in two months. Since our campaign covered only part of the migration season, we consider this value as an underestimate. The 20-year period of the wind park emphasises the substantial impact old turbines may have on bat individuals and populations when operating without curtailments. We call for reconsidering the operation procedures of old wind turbines to stop the continuous loss of bats in Germany and other countries where turbine curtailments are even less practiced than in Germany. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nyctalus noctula Pipistrellus pipistrellus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Global Ecology and Conservation 37 e02149 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Green-green dilemma Wind energy bat conflict Wildlife casualties Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Green-green dilemma Wind energy bat conflict Wildlife casualties Ecology QH540-549.5 Christian C. Voigt Klara Kaiser Samantha Look Kristin Scharnweber Carolin Scholz Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect |
topic_facet |
Green-green dilemma Wind energy bat conflict Wildlife casualties Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Bats are protected by national and international legislation in European countries, yet many species, particularly migratory aerial insectivores, collide with wind turbines which counteracts conservation efforts. Within the European Union it is legally required to curtail the operation of wind turbines at periods of high bat activity, yet this is not practiced at old wind turbines. Based on data from the national carcass repository in Germany and from our own carcass searches at a wind park with three turbines west of Berlin, we evaluated the magnitude of bat casualties at old, potentially poor-sited wind turbines operating without curtailment. We report 88 documented bat carcasses collected by various searchers over the 20-year operation period of this wind park from 2001 to 2021. Common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) and common pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) were most often found dead at these turbines. Our search campaign in August and September 2021 yielded a total of 18 carcasses. We estimated that at least 209 bats were likely killed during our field survey, yielding more than 70 casualties/wind turbine or 39 casualties/MW in two months. Since our campaign covered only part of the migration season, we consider this value as an underestimate. The 20-year period of the wind park emphasises the substantial impact old turbines may have on bat individuals and populations when operating without curtailments. We call for reconsidering the operation procedures of old wind turbines to stop the continuous loss of bats in Germany and other countries where turbine curtailments are even less practiced than in Germany. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christian C. Voigt Klara Kaiser Samantha Look Kristin Scharnweber Carolin Scholz |
author_facet |
Christian C. Voigt Klara Kaiser Samantha Look Kristin Scharnweber Carolin Scholz |
author_sort |
Christian C. Voigt |
title |
Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect |
title_short |
Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect |
title_full |
Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect |
title_fullStr |
Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: A call against ignorance and neglect |
title_sort |
wind turbines without curtailment produce large numbers of bat fatalities throughout their lifetime: a call against ignorance and neglect |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02149 https://doaj.org/article/e697078adf5e4669bcf4831cf17a8d11 |
genre |
Nyctalus noctula Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
genre_facet |
Nyctalus noctula Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
op_source |
Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol 37, Iss , Pp e02149- (2022) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422001512 https://doaj.org/toc/2351-9894 2351-9894 doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02149 https://doaj.org/article/e697078adf5e4669bcf4831cf17a8d11 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02149 |
container_title |
Global Ecology and Conservation |
container_volume |
37 |
container_start_page |
e02149 |
_version_ |
1766154780673048576 |