#BOUasm24 - Keynote abstracts - British Ornithologists' Union

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#BOUasm24 – Keynote abstracts

Birds and net zero: mechanisms, impacts and solutions in the transition to clean energy

24 October 2024
York, UK & Zoom & X (Twitter)

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Keynotes

From individual turbines to a global scale: overcoming evidence gaps to deliver an environmentally sensitive energy transition

Aonghais Cook
The Biodiversity Consultancy, UK

The energy transition is accelerating as we attempt to address the climate crisis, but there are concerns that renewable energy projects risk exacerbating the biodiversity crisis. Consequently, quantifying project impacts on biodiversity is crucial in Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs). ESIAs are often beset by considerable uncertainty, leading to a need for a precautionary approach. This has contributed to projected cumulative impacts that pose challenges to continued industry expansion in established markets.

Uncertainty in ESIAs should be acknowledged and, where possible, reduced through evidence. We have built a substantial evidence base through a combination of post-construction monitoring and strategic research. Innovative and novel approaches to data collection and analysis have been central to this. The application of technology like GPS tracking has enabled us to quantify the response and exposure of birds to wind farms from the scale of individual turbines to whole flyways. Analytical advances enable us to consider the energetic consequences for individual birds, and the impact of this at the population-level. Better use of evidence produced by these studies offers the potential to reduce uncertainty in ESIAs, enabling less precautionary approaches to be applied.

While most advances have come in established renewable energy markets, the key industry growth will take place in emerging markets. Limited biodiversity data availability and differences in the species at risk pose significant challenges. It is vital we consider how evidence and approaches developed in established markets can be applied in emerging markets to deliver a just and environmentally sensitive energy transition.

Aonghais Cook is a Principal Consultant at The Biodiversity Consultancy. He works closely with developers, lenders, regulators and other organisations to better understand how to avoid, minimise and offset the impacts of renewable energy, particularly offshore wind farms, on biodiversity. He is particularly interested in investigating how to make better use of data and technology in order to support a sustainable and environmentally sensitive energy transition.

An ecosystem approach to assessing the effectiveness of compensatory measures for the effects of offshore windfarms on seabirds

Michael Heath
University of Strathclyde, UK

Large scale offshore windfarms pose a threat to some key species of foraging seabirds, and these concerns are a limiting factor in planning consents for new developments. Hence a range of actions are being considered as possible strategic measures to compensate for these effects. But, how can we assess in advance the relative effectiveness of these measures?

This talk provides some answers to this question through a sensitivity analysis of a North Sea ecosystem model (Strathe2E) to determine which parameters are most sensitive for seabird biomass. Some of these parameters mimic the proposed compensatory actions.

The clear message from the analysis is that climate-sensitive parameters and inputs which affect primary production and the efficiency of energy transfer up the trophic levels are highly sensitive for birds.

The most sensitive bird-specific parameters were those affecting maximum feeding rates. Maximum feeding rate in foraging species is limited by the so called ‘handling time’ of prey – that is the time it takes for an animal to ingest a prey item once captured. In the context of breeding seabirds we can hypothesis that this handling time includes, e.g. the flight-time to deliver food to chicks in the nest. So, the analysis suggests that measures which subsidise breeding birds by delivering food closer to colonies might be the most efficient form of compensatory measure.

Michael Heath took up his current position at the University of Strathclyde in 2010 after 28 years at the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen providing research evidence and advice to the Scottish Government on marine ecology issues. At Strathclyde, he leads a research group specialising in mathematical and statistical modelling of marine ecosystems and a wide range of marine species, and their sensitivity to fishing and climate change.

Predicting the impacts of offshore wind farms on seabird populations

Catharine Horswill
ZSL Institute of Zoology and University College London, UK

The expansion of offshore wind farms is pivotal in the global shift towards renewable energy. However, this development is also likely to impact marine species, especially seabirds. Assessing potential impacts to protected seabird populations is necessary to gain consent for wind farm development. However, uncertainty in seabird demography, behavioural attributes and levels of impact means that these assessments are principally based on theorical models, rather than empirical evidence. Whilst these models provide valuable insights into relative impact, they often fail to accurately predict observed mortality rates. Improving the accuracy of these models will make the planning and consenting processes of offshore wind farms quicker, simpler and less risky. It will also improve the efficacy of proposed compensatory measures.

Seabird impact assessments for offshore wind farms typically evaluate how a single wind farm will impact a specific seabird population based on its breeding season distribution. Furthermore, the focal seabird population is usually assigned a national average demographic profile and assumed to be independent of any additional environmental pressures, immigration, emigration or density-dependent regulation.

In this talk, I will highlight research demonstrating the importance of considering how populations spatially and temporally overlap with different wind farms throughout the annual cycle. I will also review studies examining how seabird impact assessments may be influenced by spatial variation in demography, ongoing drivers of change, dispersal processes and density-dependent regulation.

The aim of this talk is to highlight the necessity for national and international strategies for seabird conservation when considering the population-level impacts of future offshore wind farms.

Catharine Horswill is a seabird population ecologist whose work focuses on understanding the processes that drive spatial and temporal variation in seabird population dynamics. Her research aims to link ecology, demography, and statistical analysis to develop innovative methods for assessing seabird responses to climate change and human pressures, particularly in data-limited scenarios.

‘Closing the loop’: valuable insights of displacement and collision risk for seabirds gained from an intensive post-consent monitoring study of an offshore wind farm

Martin R. Perrow
University College London & UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Industry funded ‘Closing the Loop’ is focussed on applying learning from post-consent monitoring of offshore wind farms. Validation of assessment predictions required by license conditions for Sheringham Shoal (88 x 3.6 MW turbines) in the Greater Wash, is a case in point. The seven-year programme (2009–2016) before, during and after construction is among the most comprehensive conducted in UK waters. Targeted boat-based surveys (n=151) utilising both site-control and site-buffer gradient designs showed several non-breeding seabirds were displaced; beginning in construction for Razorbill and Common Guillemot, but limited to operation for Northern Gannet. In contrast, Great Black-backed Gull was attracted. The reasons for, and possible consequences of, these patterns are discussed. Navigation buoys installed within 400 m of the site became resting and socialising hubs for Sandwich terns foraging from SPA breeding colonies. Validation of the collision risk of this key receptor employed visual tracking from a high-speed boat (1,858 individual tracks over 22,843 km). Measuring change relative to a pre-construction baseline proved invaluable to tease apart the avoidance response. While ‘macro-avoidance’ meant that 31–42% fewer tracked birds entered the operational site in different years, ‘meso-lateral’ avoidance within the array concentrating birds midway between turbines in ‘flight corridors’, made most (~50%) contribution to total estimated avoidance rate (99.4%). A decline in foraging rate within, compared to outwith, the wind farm emphasises the need for better understanding of the potential impact of wind farms on forage fish spatio-temporal abundance and the wider ecosystem relative to other factors.

Martin has been engaged in the UK offshore wind industry since its inception, initially leading ECON Ltd, a ‘one-stop shop’ for EIA, HRA, surveys, monitoring and seabird research, especially developing at-sea methods. Publications include the four-volume Wildlife & Wind Farms series, a global, multi-author treatise of onshore and offshore effects, monitoring and mitigation. Martin currently holds honorary positions at both UCL and UKCEH and continues to seek to promote best practice in planning and assessment.

Scientific Programme Committee