The development of renewable energies should in the future “avoid amplifying the biodiversity crisis”, assert the experts. Indeed, some wind farms at sea have a significant repellent effect on at least one category of seabirds, regret this Thursday scientists in a study. The Germany-based researchers analyzed data to measure the impact of wind turbines in the German North Sea on birds of the loon family (Gaviidae), large, duck-like birds.
“The distribution and abundance of loons changed substantially in the period before and after the construction of the parks,” the authors report in the review. Scientific Reports. Their presence has thus dropped by 94% within a radius of 1 kilometer around the parks and by 52% within 10 km. Loons have even almost completely disappeared around two of the parks. “In any case, the wind turbines created a sort of halo around these constructions,” note the authors.
“Less favorable” living areas
“We are quite sure that the loons react mainly to the existence and visibility of these structures and less to the movement of the blades”, indicates Stefan Garthe, of the University of Kiel, one of the authors of the study. “It seems that they avoid all human activity above the surface” and are in particular “very sensitive to maritime traffic”, he notes. The total estimated population around all the parks has declined by almost a third, from 34,865 birds before construction to 24,672 after.
“The birds moved away from the wind turbines to regroup at the furthest possible distance”, emphasizes Stefan Garthe. “But these new life zones are probably less favorable for feeding the birds, otherwise they would have already gone there in droves before,” he notes.
The researchers point out that previous studies have shown “significant” negative impacts for other bird species, but none have shown such a “strong and negative” response as loons. “Renewable energies will have to provide a large proportion of our energy demand in the future, but it is necessary to minimize the costs for less adaptable species, to avoid amplifying the biodiversity crisis”, conclude the authors.