Short Science Summary: Offshore Wind Farms as Stepping Stones for Non-indigenous Species

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One of the most important effects of offshore wind farms is the unintentional provision of a new habitat which invariably is rapidly colonized by hard substrate species. Turbine foundations provide hard vertical substrates and, depending on the structure and scour protection used, varying degrees of habitat complexity. These novel surfaces span the full water column from the splash zone to the seafloor, often in areas where comparable natural hard surfaces are absent. Non-indigenous species (NIS) are species that did not occur in a particular geographic region, such as the North Sea, prior to a certain date (e.g., the beginning of the 17th century). They consist of species introduced by human activities outside their natural past or present range (introduced species), and species that spread by their own means (range expanding species) due to rising temperatures or other factors. As ocean sprawl in shallow and coastal waters has favored NIS, there is concern that increasing development of offshore wind farms will accelerate this phenomenon. This summary represents a general overview of the research, produced by WREN under IEA Wind. 

The table below contains the literature relevant to this summary document and will continue to be updated as new literature is added to Tethys.

Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Bat activity during autumn relates to atmospheric conditions: implications for coastal wind energy development Smith, A., McWilliams, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Bats
Co-location of passive gear fisheries in offshore wind farms in the German EEZ of the North Sea: A first socio-economic scoping Stelzenmüller, V., Diekmann, R., Bastardie, F., Schulze, T., Berkenhagen, J., Kloppmann, M., Krause, G., Pogoda, B., Buck, B., Kraus, G. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Human Dimensions, Fisheries
Offshore wind energy ecological programme (Wozep) Monitoring and research programme 2017-2021 WOZEP project team Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Quarterly Report for Aquatic Sampling: Project Icebreaker Pre-Construction Monitoring 3rd Quarter Verhamme, E., Daley, J., Cutrell, G. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Fish
Thornton Bank Offshore Wind Farm Annual Activity Report 2011 C-Power Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Sediment Transport, Water Quality, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Thornton Bank Offshore Wind Farm Annual Report 2012 C-Power Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment, Sediment Transport, Water Quality, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Annual environmental report 2015 - Belwind Belwind Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Changes in Flow, Habitat Change Bats, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Physical Environment
Wind Farm Thornton Bank Phase 1: Annual Environmental Report 2010 C-Power Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment, Sediment Transport, Water Quality, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Wind Farm Thornton Bank Phase 1: Annual Environmental Report 2009 C-Power Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment, Sediment Transport, Water Quality, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Thornton Bank Offshore Wind Farm Annual Report 2015 Van Laere, R. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Seabirds and Offshore Wind Farms in European Waters: Avoidance and Attraction Dierschke, V., Furness, R., Garthe, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Avoidance, Attraction Seabirds, Birds
Displacement of seabirds by an offshore wind farm in the North Sea Welcker, J., Nehls, G. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Displacement Seabirds, Birds
Quarterly Report for Aquatic Sampling: Project Icebreaker Pre-Construction Monitoring 2nd Quarter Verhamme, E., Daley, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Fish
Unstructured Grid Modelling of Offshore Wind Farm Impacts on Seasonally Stratified Shelf Seas Cazenave, P., Torres, R., Allen, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Changes in Flow Physical Environment
Offshore Wind Power for Marine Conservation Hammar, L., Perry, D., Gullström, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Displacement, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Marine Spatial Planning
Environmental impacts of offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea: Environmental impact monitoring reloaded Degraer, S., Brabant, R., Rumes, B., Vigin, L. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Habitat Change, Noise Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Human Dimensions, Fisheries
Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm: Technical Project Description for the largescale offshore wind farm (600 MW) at Kriegers Flak Energinet Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Noise
Marine Life Observation using Classification Algorithms on Ocean Surface Photographs Maussang, F., Guelton, L., Garello, R., Chevallier, A. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Birds, Marine Mammals
Continuation Implementation Masterplan Wind at Sea Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (Rijksoverheid), Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (Rijkswaterstaat) Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Noise
Mobile Autonomous Platforms for Passive-Acoustic Monitoring of High-frequency Klinck, H., Fregosi, S., Matsumoto, H., Turpin, A., Mellinger, D., Erofeev, A., Barth, J., Shearman, R., Jafarmardar, K., Stelzer, R. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Habitat Change Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Renewables-To-Reefs? Decommissioning Options for the Offshore Wind Power Industry Smyth, K., Christie, N., Burdon, D., Atkins, J., Barnes, R., Elliott, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Human Dimensions, Ecosystem Processes
Environmental Risk Evaluation System - An Approach to Ranking Risk of Ocean Energy Development on Coastal and Estuarine Environments Copping, A., Hanna, L., Van Cleve, B., Blake, K., Anderson, R. Journal Article Wind Energy, Wave, Tidal, Fixed Offshore Wind, Marine Energy Habitat Change, Displacement, Collision, Chemicals, Changes in Flow, Avoidance, Attraction Marine Mammals, Fish, Birds
Integrated Geomodel – Horns Rev 3 Case Study Medhus, A., Marstal, S., Laier, M., Rosborg, A., Petersen, B., Henssel, J., Klinkby, L. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment, Sediment Transport
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction of the Block Island Wind Farm National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Changes in Flow, Habitat Change Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
An Integrated Visual Impact Assessment Model for Offshore Windfarm Development Depellegrin, D., Blažauskas, N., Egarter-Vigl, L. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Human Dimensions, Visual Impacts
Computationally Efficient Modelling of Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction of Offshore Wind Turbines on Gravity Footings Damgaard, M., Andersen, L., Ibsen, L. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment
Impact Hypothesis for Offshore Wind Farms: Explanatory Models for Species Distribution at Extremely Exposed Rocky Areas Schläppy, M., Saskov, A., Dahlgren, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Invertebrates
Repeated Mapping of Reefs Constructed by Sabellaria spinulosa Leuckart 1849 at an Offshore Wind Farm Site Pearce, B., Farinas-Franco, J., Wilson, C., Pitts, J., deBurgh, A., Somerfield, P. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Invertebrates
A Sustainability Index of Potential Co-Location of Offshore Wind Farms and Open Water Aquaculture Benassai, G., Mariani, P., Stenberg, C., Christoffersen, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Human Dimensions
Similar Diversity-Disturbance Responses to Different Physical Impacts: Three Cases of Small-Scale Biodiversity Increase in the Belgian Part of the North Sea De Backer, A., Van Hoey, G., Coates, D., Vanaverbeke, J., Hostens, K. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment
Geological and Geotechnical Characterisation for Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations: A Case Study of the Sheringham Shoal Wind Farm Le, T., Eiksund, G., Strom, P., Saue, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change
Enrichment and Shifts in Macrobenthic Assemblages in an Offshore Wind Farm Area in the Belgian Part of the North Sea Coates, D., Deschutter, Y., Vincx, M., Vanaverbeke, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes, Physical Environment, Invertebrates
Habitat Use and Selection of Black Scoters in Southern New England and Siting of Offshore Wind Energy Facilities Loring, P., Paton, P., Osenkowski, J., Gilliland, S., Savard, J., McWilliams, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Birds
Measuring the Interaction Between Marine Features of Special Protection Areas with Offshore Wind Farm Development Sites Through Telemetry: Final Report Thaxter, C., Ross-Smith, V., Clark, N., Conway, G., Johnston, A., Wade, H., Masden, E., Bouten, W., Burton, N. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Collision Seabirds, Birds
Construction and Post-Construction Avian and Bat Monitoring Plan Block Island Wind Farm Tetra Tech Inc. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Physical Environment
Assessing the Impact of Windfarms in Subtidal, Exposed Marine Areas Dahlgren, T., Schläppy, M., Saskov, A., Andersson, M., Rzhanov, Y., Fer, I. Book Chapter Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment, Ecosystem Processes
The Ecology of Benthopelagic Fishes at Offshore Wind Farms: A Synthesis of 4 Years of Research Reubens, J., Degraer, S., Vincx, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Fish, Demersal Fish
The Co-Location of Offshore Windfarms and Decapod Fisheries in the UK: Constraints and Opportunities Hooper, T., Austen, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change, Attraction Invertebrates, Human Dimensions, Fisheries
Diel Variation in Feeding and Movement Patterns of Juvenile Atlantic Cod at Offshore Wind Farms Reubens, J., Rijcke, M., Degraer, S., Vincx, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Fish, Demersal Fish
How Deep does an Anchor Penetrate the Seafloor? Maushake, C. Workshop Article Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Habitat Change Physical Environment
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