Ecological impacts of wind energy development on bats: questions, research needs, and hypotheses

Abstract

At a time of growing concern over the rising costs and long‐term environmental impacts of the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy, wind energy has become an increasingly important sector of the electrical power industry, largely because it has been promoted as being emission‐free and is supported by government subsidies and tax credits. However, large numbers of bats are killed at utility‐scale wind energy facilities, especially along forested ridgetops in the eastern United States. These fatalities raise important concerns about cumulative impacts of proposed wind energy development on bat populations. This paper summarizes evidence of bat fatalities at wind energy facilities in the US, makes projections of cumulative fatalities of bats in the Mid‐Atlantic Highlands, identifies research needs, and proposes hypotheses to better inform researchers, developers, decision makers, and other stakeholders, and to help minimize adverse effects of wind energy development.

Bat fatalities at two wind farms in Tasmania, Australia: bat characteristics, and spatial and temporal patterns

“…Rydell et al (2010a,b) found that the bat genera at most risk of colliding with wind turbines in northwest Europe were Nyctalus, Pipistrellus and Vespertilio and to some extent also Eptesicus, all of which have long and narrow wings, forage in the open air and tend to be migratory. The North American bats most often killed at wind turbines are morphologically and ecologically similar to those in Europe, but belong to other genera (Lasiurus, Lasionycerteris and Perimyotis; Johnson et al 2004;Kunz et al 2007), features that are consistent with our study.…”

Behavior of bats at wind turbines

“…Resource-based hypotheses of attraction include bats seeking shelter, social opportunities, or food at turbines (3,8,9,13), all of which may occur more often on the leeward sides of tall, tree-like structures. The simplest explanation for bats closely approaching turbines may be that they are seeking places to roost in what they perceive as trees while migrating.…”

“…energy development | sensory perception | video surveillance | wildlife | wind energy B ats are long-lived mammals with low reproductive potential and require high adult survivorship to maintain populations (1,2). The recent phenomenon of widespread fatalities of bats at utility scale wind turbines represents a new hazard with the potential to detrimentally affect entire populations (3,4). Bat fatalities have been found at wind turbines on several continents (3)(4)(5)(6), with hypothesized estimates of fatalities in some regions ranging into the tens to hundreds of thousands of bats per year (4,6).…”

“…The recent phenomenon of widespread fatalities of bats at utility scale wind turbines represents a new hazard with the potential to detrimentally affect entire populations (3,4). Bat fatalities have been found at wind turbines on several continents (3)(4)(5)(6), with hypothesized estimates of fatalities in some regions ranging into the tens to hundreds of thousands of bats per year (4,6). Before recent observations of dead bats beneath wind turbines, fatal collisions of bats with tall structures had been rarely recorded (7).…”

The avian and wildlife costs of fossil fuels and nuclear power

“…Wind turbines do, however, have batrelated mortalities (Willis et al 2010;Arnett et al 2008;Kunz et al 2007), and the author wholeheartedly encourages research comparing bat fatalities across various energy sources. Indeed, evidence from Barclay et al (2007) compiled from 21 separate wind energy sites suggests that bat deaths may be as high as 1.46 per GWh.…”