Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed
Wind turbines represent a source of hazard for bats, especially through collision with rotor blades. With increasing technical development, tall turbines (rotor-swept zone 50–150 m above ground level) are becoming widespread, yet we lack quantitative information about species active at these heights...
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ftunivbern:oai:boris.unibe.ch:126999 2023-08-20T04:09:18+02:00 Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed Wellig, Sascha Nusslé, Sébastien Miltner, Daniela Caroline Kohle, Oliver Glaizot, Olivier Braunisch, Veronika Obrist, Martin K. Arlettaz, Raphaël 2018 application/pdf https://boris.unibe.ch/126999/1/Wellig_PLOSONE2018.pdf https://boris.unibe.ch/126999/ eng eng Public Library of Science https://boris.unibe.ch/126999/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Wellig, Sascha; Nusslé, Sébastien; Miltner, Daniela Caroline; Kohle, Oliver; Glaizot, Olivier; Braunisch, Veronika; Obrist, Martin K.; Arlettaz, Raphaël (2018). Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed. PLoS ONE, 13(3), e0192493. Public Library of Science 10.1371/journal.pone.0192493 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192493> 570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivbern https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192493 2023-07-31T21:50:24Z Wind turbines represent a source of hazard for bats, especially through collision with rotor blades. With increasing technical development, tall turbines (rotor-swept zone 50–150 m above ground level) are becoming widespread, yet we lack quantitative information about species active at these heights, which impedes proposing targeted mitigation recommenda- tions for bat-friendly turbine operation. We investigated vertical activity profiles of a bat assemblage, and their relationships to wind speed, within a major valley of the European Alps where tall wind turbines are being deployed. To monitor bat activity we installed auto- matic recorders at sequentially increasing heights from ground level up to 65 m, with the goal to determine species-specific vertical activity profiles and to link them to wind speed. Bat call sequences were analysed with an automatic algorithm, paying particular attention to mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii) and the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis), three locally rare species. The most often recorded bats were the Com- mon pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and Savi’s pipistrelle (Hypsugo savii). Mouse-eared bats were rarely recorded, and mostly just above ground, appearing out of risk of collision. T. teniotis had a more evenly distributed vertical activity profile, often being active at rotor level, but its activity at that height ceased above 5 ms-1 wind speed. Overall bat activity in the rotor-swept zone declined with increasing wind speed, dropping below 5% above 5.4 ms-1. Collision risk could be drastically reduced if nocturnal operation of tall wind turbines would be restricted to wind speeds above 5 ms-1. Such measure should be implemented year-round because T. teniotis remains active in winter. This operational restriction is likely to cause only small energy production losses at these tall wind turbines, although further analyses are needed to assess these losses precisely. Article in Journal/Newspaper Pipistrellus pipistrellus BORIS (Bern Open Repository and Information System, University of Bern) PLOS ONE 13 3 e0192493 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
BORIS (Bern Open Repository and Information System, University of Bern) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbern |
language |
English |
topic |
570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) |
spellingShingle |
570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) Wellig, Sascha Nusslé, Sébastien Miltner, Daniela Caroline Kohle, Oliver Glaizot, Olivier Braunisch, Veronika Obrist, Martin K. Arlettaz, Raphaël Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
topic_facet |
570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) |
description |
Wind turbines represent a source of hazard for bats, especially through collision with rotor blades. With increasing technical development, tall turbines (rotor-swept zone 50–150 m above ground level) are becoming widespread, yet we lack quantitative information about species active at these heights, which impedes proposing targeted mitigation recommenda- tions for bat-friendly turbine operation. We investigated vertical activity profiles of a bat assemblage, and their relationships to wind speed, within a major valley of the European Alps where tall wind turbines are being deployed. To monitor bat activity we installed auto- matic recorders at sequentially increasing heights from ground level up to 65 m, with the goal to determine species-specific vertical activity profiles and to link them to wind speed. Bat call sequences were analysed with an automatic algorithm, paying particular attention to mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii) and the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis), three locally rare species. The most often recorded bats were the Com- mon pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and Savi’s pipistrelle (Hypsugo savii). Mouse-eared bats were rarely recorded, and mostly just above ground, appearing out of risk of collision. T. teniotis had a more evenly distributed vertical activity profile, often being active at rotor level, but its activity at that height ceased above 5 ms-1 wind speed. Overall bat activity in the rotor-swept zone declined with increasing wind speed, dropping below 5% above 5.4 ms-1. Collision risk could be drastically reduced if nocturnal operation of tall wind turbines would be restricted to wind speeds above 5 ms-1. Such measure should be implemented year-round because T. teniotis remains active in winter. This operational restriction is likely to cause only small energy production losses at these tall wind turbines, although further analyses are needed to assess these losses precisely. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wellig, Sascha Nusslé, Sébastien Miltner, Daniela Caroline Kohle, Oliver Glaizot, Olivier Braunisch, Veronika Obrist, Martin K. Arlettaz, Raphaël |
author_facet |
Wellig, Sascha Nusslé, Sébastien Miltner, Daniela Caroline Kohle, Oliver Glaizot, Olivier Braunisch, Veronika Obrist, Martin K. Arlettaz, Raphaël |
author_sort |
Wellig, Sascha |
title |
Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
title_short |
Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
title_full |
Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
title_fullStr |
Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
title_sort |
mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://boris.unibe.ch/126999/1/Wellig_PLOSONE2018.pdf https://boris.unibe.ch/126999/ |
genre |
Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
genre_facet |
Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
op_source |
Wellig, Sascha; Nusslé, Sébastien; Miltner, Daniela Caroline; Kohle, Oliver; Glaizot, Olivier; Braunisch, Veronika; Obrist, Martin K.; Arlettaz, Raphaël (2018). Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed. PLoS ONE, 13(3), e0192493. Public Library of Science 10.1371/journal.pone.0192493 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192493> |
op_relation |
https://boris.unibe.ch/126999/ |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192493 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e0192493 |
_version_ |
1774722157417332736 |