Collision risk of bats with small wind turbines: Worst-case scenarios near roosts, commuting and hunting structures.

ABSTRACT: Small wind turbines (SWTs) have become increasingly common within the last decade, but their impact on wildlife, especially bats, is largely unknown. We conducted an operational experiment by sequentially placing a mobile SWT with five different operational modes at six sites of high bat activity, including roosts, commuting structures, and highly frequented hunting areas. Bat flight trajectories around the SWT were documented at each site during five consecutive nights using a specifically designed high-spatial-resolution 3D camera. The recordings showed high bat activity levels close to the SWT (7,065 flight trajectories within a 10-m radius). The minimum distance to the rotor of each trajectory varied between 0 and 18 m, with a mean of 4.6 m across all sites. Linear mixed models created

SUBMITTER: Hartmann SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8232403 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature