de Jong, Johnny and Millon, Lara and Håstad, Olle and Victorsson, Jonas
(2021).
Activity Pattern and Correlation between Bat and Insect Abundance at Wind Turbines in South Sweden.
Animals. 11
, 3269
[Research article]
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Abstract
Simple Summary:& nbsp;Wind power is an important energy system in the global transition towards renewable energy. As new wind farms are erected in increasing numbers, they will have an impact on many organisms, e.g., through habitat changes and collision mortalities. In this study, we measure bat activity, insect abundance, and weather conditions to test the hypothesis that insect abundance attracts bats to wind turbines because of feeding opportunities. We found that the relationship between insect abundance and bat activity was relatively weak, providing some support for the feeding-attraction hypothesis. However, we also found a strong correlation between bat passes and weather conditions. This suggests that stop-regulation based on weather conditions might be a solution to avoid collisions. However, this study highlights some of the problems with defining the limits for stop-regulation, as bat activity may be high also at relatively high wind speeds and low temperatures.& nbsp;We present data on species composition and activity of bats during two years at three different wind- turbines, located in south Sweden, both at the base and nacelle height. To test the hypothesis that bats are attracted to wind turbines because of feeding opportunities, insects were sampled at nacelle height at one wind turbine using a suction trap, simultaneously as bat activity were measured. At this wind turbine, we also compared two different technical systems for ultrasound recordings and collect meteorological data. The variation in bat activity was high between nights and between wind turbines. In addition to the expected open-air foraging species (Pipistrellus, Nyctalus, Vespertilio and Eptesicus), some individuals of unexpected species (Myotis, Barbastella, and Plecotus) were found at nacelle height. There was a weak but significant positive relation between bat activity and insect abundance, so the hypothesis could not be rejected, suggesting there might be other factors than insect abundance explaining the frequency of bat visits at the nacelle. We found a strong correlation between bat passes and weather conditions. A reasonable way to mitigate collisions is with stop-regulation. However, this study highlights some of the problems with defining the limits for stop-regulation based on weather conditions.
Authors/Creators: | de Jong, Johnny and Millon, Lara and Håstad, Olle and Victorsson, Jonas | ||||||
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Title: | Activity Pattern and Correlation between Bat and Insect Abundance at Wind Turbines in South Sweden | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Animals | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2021 | ||||||
Volume: | 11 | ||||||
Article number: | 3269 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 15 | ||||||
Publisher: | MDPI | ||||||
ISSN: | 2076-2615 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Ecology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 405 Other Agricultural Sciences > Renewable Bioenergy Research | ||||||
Keywords: | wind-power, bat activity, Chiroptera, insect abundance, stop-regulation | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-115008 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-115008 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 26415 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap University administration | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Urban and Rural Development (LTJ, LTV) > Dept. of Urban and Rural Development | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 23 Dec 2021 12:25 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 23 Dec 2021 12:31 |
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