TY - RPRT
TI - Second year post-construction monitoring of bats and birds at Wind Turbine Test Centre Østerild
AU - Therkildsen, O
AU - Elmeros, M
AB - The Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University was commissioned by the Danish Nature Agency to undertake a bat and bird monitoring programme of a national test centre for wind turbines near Østerild in Thy, Denmark. Here we present the results from the second and final year of the post-construction studies. A total of ten bat species were recorded in 2013-2014. Species composition and occurrence were comparable to the results obtained during the pre-construction survey in 2011. Bats were recorded at all turbine sites and on all nights at surveyed ponds and lakes. Overall, the bat activity level decreased from 2013 to 2014 to the levels recorded in 2011. Bat activity was higher near the wind turbines than at nearby forest edges. Bat activity at the turbines was correlated to aggregations of insects on the turbine towers, which suggest that bats exploit the food resources that accumulate on the turbine towers on some nights. Nathusius’ pipistrelles and noctules were recorded at nacelle height. Two dead Nathusius’ pipistrelles were found in 2014 at the southern turbine situated in forest. Whooper swan, taiga bean goose, pink-footed goose, common crane, light-bellied brent goose, white-tailed eagle and nightjar were included as focal species in the ornithological investigations. In addition, species specific data on all bird species occurring regularly in the study area were collected. On the basis of this final assessment of collision risk, the potential impacts of the combined structures on the bird species occurring in the study area were considered unlikely to be significant. We recommend that the mortality related to human developments on the white-tailed eagle, common crane and nightjar populations, particularly the impact of the continued development of wind energy in the region, is closely monitored in the future. Contents:Part A: Bats (Authors: M. Elmeros, J. Moller, & H. Baagoe) - pg. 19Part B: Birds (Authors: O. Therkildsen, T. Balsby, R. Nielsen, L. Haugaard, & J. Kjeldsen) - pg. 47Appendicies and Tables - pg. 128
DA - 2017/06//
PY - 2017
SP - 142
PB - Aarhus University
SN - No. 232
UR - http://dce2.au.dk/pub/SR232.pdf
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Land-Based Wind
KW - Birds
KW - Bats
ER -