A Methodology to Assess Displacement Effects on Key Wildlife Species Arising from Marine Energy Conversion Systems using Onshore Observation Data

Conference Paper

Title: A Methodology to Assess Displacement Effects on Key Wildlife Species Arising from Marine Energy Conversion Systems using Onshore Observation Data

Author:

Long, C.; Scott-Hayward, L.; Norris, J.

Publication Date:

September 10, 2015

Event Name:

11th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC 2015)

Event Location:

Nantes, France

Pages:

Affiliation

European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), University of St Andrews

Technology:

Marine Energy

Stressor:

Displacement, Habitat Change

Document Access

Website:

External Link

Citation

Long, C.; Scott-Hayward, L.; Norris, J. (2015). A Methodology to Assess Displacement Effects on Key Wildlife Species Arising from Marine Energy Conversion Systems using Onshore Observation Data. Paper presented at 11th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC 2015), Nantes, France.

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Abstract

There is a regulatory need to determine whether the deployment of Marine Energy Conversion Systems (MECS) is likely to have any significant effect on site integrity. An important part of this is to identify whether MECS have any impact on the abundance or distribution of wildlife species in the vicinity of such devices. Using information collected at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) grid-connected wave and tidal test sites, EMEC is leading an in-depth analysis of landbased wildlife observations data with respect to the operational status of different devices. This data analysis project brings in expertise from the Centre for Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) in the application of the statistical package MRSea to quantify any spatially-explicit change attributable to MECS testing. This paper summarises progress to date, with particular emphasis on the methodology applied to perform the analysis of the test site observations with respect to the potential displacement of key wildlife species.