Abstract
What you should know:
- The risk of birds and bats colliding with wind turbine blades is a primary concern for wildlife management. While collision mortality has been observed at land-based wind farms, the rate of bird collisions with offshore wind turbines is expected to be lower.
- Offshore wind farms are typically situated in more remote environments than land-based wind farms, and so it is expected that smaller numbers of birds and bats will interact with the turbines.
- Environmental monitoring data is typically used to select offshore wind development areas that have minimal overlap with areas of high seabird activity when practicable.
- Bird species exhibit different types of avoidance behavior when they encounter an offshore wind farm; the type of behavior can determine the impact a wind farm has on a species.
- Waterbirds and bats are highly sensitive to the effects of climate change, with 78% of waterbird species being at risk of extinction due to changing ocean, vegetation, and prey conditions as temperatures rise.
- Offshore wind contributes meaningful solutions to slow the rate of climate change. Many of the potential negative effects on these species from offshore wind can be mitigated through monitoring and planning.