Coastal and offshore movements of Nathusius’ pipistrelle during autumn migration

• Main Authors: Lagerveld, Sander, de Vries, Pepijn, Noort, Bart, Stienstra, Karina, Sonneveld, Cor, Vallina, Tamara, Keur, Martijn, Steenbergen, Josien
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Wageningen Marine Research 2024
• Subjects: Life Science; Pipistrellus nathusii
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/coastal-and-offshore-movements-of-nathusius-pipistrelle-during-au; https://doi.org/10.18174/658603

The development of offshore wind farms (OWF’s) plays an important role in the Dutch energy transition to comply with the European aim to be climate neutral by 2050. There are however also concerns about the impact of (offshore) wind farms on biodiversity and protected species like bats, who are found at sea during migration, and in some cases during foraging trips from the mainland. In the Netherlands, the impact of offshore wind farm development on legally protected species and the potential effects on the ecosystem is investigated in a central and long-term research programme; Wozep (Wind op zee ecologisch programma). At the North Sea several species of bats have been recorded of which Nathusius’ pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii) is the most commonly observed species. Nathusius’ pipistrelle is known to migrate from the breeding areas in eastern Europe towards their wintering areas in southern and western Europe. Some of the bats go as far as the UK and thus have to cross the North Sea during their migration. For these reasons this species is the priority species in studying the impact of the Dutch offshore wind development on bats within Wozep. The Wozep bat research programme includes various (sub)projects, all of which are aimed to fill important knowledge gaps and answer the overall research question: what is the relevance of the (presumed) mortality due to offshore wind farms for bats, in particular for Nathusius’ pipistrelle population(s) crossing the southern North Sea. To investigate bat migratory movements at a larger scale offshore passive acoustic monitoring and telemetry research using the Motus Wildlife system are used. Motus is a system that uses automated radio telemetry, specifically designed to track the movements of smaller animals, such as bats and birds. In order to do so, the system uses a network of stationary automated receiving stations. The current report shows the results of a telemetry study aiming to assess the percentage of bats departing over sea off the North-Noord Holland coast ...