Response of waterbird abundance and flight behavior to a coastal wind farm on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
Journal
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Journal Volume
193
Journal Issue
4
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
Coastal wetlands along migratory flyways are crucial in supporting staging or wintering waterbirds, yet they are often targeted for wind energy development. Potential conflicts are likely to be strong in densely populated East and Southeast Asia, where many bird species along the flyway are endangered, and wind energy projects are just flourishing. We investigated waterbird abundance and flight behavior at a coastal wind farm at the mid of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. For shorebirds roosting in the aquacultural ponds, the abundance showed no significant change in the study area compared with the control area across all development stages of the wind farm. For egrets breeding in the mangroves, fewer Cattle Egrets Bubulcus ibis were observed in the year of wind farm construction and the first year of wind farm operation, then the number recovered afterwards. Since the operation of the wind farm, birds avoided crossing closely spaced (200 m) turbines while travelling through widely spaced (500 m) ones more frequently. Shorebirds, egrets, and landbirds flew lower when turbines were present, reducing the overlap of their flight height with the swept zone. Our study suggests that coastal wind farms are not necessarily a great threat to waterbirds. Yet environmentally sound planning and rigorous monitoring are crucial in minimizing potential impacts. ? 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Subjects
Birds; Electric utilities; Wetlands; Avoided crossings; Coastal wetlands; Development stages; Potential conflict; Potential impacts; Wind energy development; Wind energy projects; Wind farm operations; Wind power; abundance; endangered species; environmental disturbance; flight behavior; migratory behavior; migratory species; wader; wind farm; wind turbine; article; breeding; controlled study; developmental stage; mangrove; nonhuman; pond; sound; travel; wader; wind farm; animal; bird; energy resource; environmental monitoring; environmental protection; wind; Australia; Ardeidae; Bubulcus; Bubulcus ibis; Rhizophoraceae; Scolopacidae; Animals; Birds; Conservation of Natural Resources; Energy-Generating Resources; Environmental Monitoring; Wind
Type
journal article