Wildlife and infrastructure: impact of wind turbines on bats in the Black Sea coast region
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Wildlife and infrastructure: impact of wind turbines on bats in the Black Sea coast region Dragoş Ştefan Măntoiu 1,2 & Kseniia Kravchenko 3,4 & Linn Sophia Lehnert 3 & Anton Vlaschenko 4 & Oana Teodora Moldovan 1,5 & Ionuţ Cornel Mirea 1 & Răzvan Cătălin Stanciu 6 & Răzvan Zaharia 6 & Răzvan Popescu-Mirceni 6 & Marius Costin Nistorescu 2 & Christian Claus Voigt 3 Received: 17 June 2019 / Revised: 22 March 2020 / Accepted: 2 April 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract In Eastern Europe, wind energy production is currently promoted as an important source of renewable energy, yet in most cases without appropriate consideration of the negative impacts wind turbines (WT) may have on protected species such as bats. Here, we present first data on fatality rates, fatality factors and the likely origin of bats killed by WT in the Dobrogea region (Romania), located in a major migratory corridor for wildlife in Eastern Europe. Over a 4-year period, we found a total of 166 bat carcasses from 10 species, mostly representing migratory species such as Pipistrellus nathusii and Nyctalus noctula. Most fatalities at WT occurred in July and August. We documented 15 cases of barotrauma and 34 cases of blunt-force trauma in carcasses found below WT. After adjusting for carcass removals and variations in searcher efficiency, we estimated for the 4-year study period a total of 2394 bat casualties at the studied WT facility consisting of 20 units, resulting in a mean fatality rate of 30 bats/WT/year, or 14.2 bats/MW/year. By implementing a curtailment measure at wind speeds below 6.5 m/s, we reduced fatality rates by 78%. Isoscape origin models based on hydrogen stable isotope ratios in fur keratin revealed that the majority of N. noctula that were killed by WT or captured nearby in mist nets originated from distant areas in the North (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia). The estimated high fatalitjegangy rates of bats at WT in this area have far-reaching consequences, particularly for populations of migratory bats, if no appropriate mitigation schemes are practised. Keywords Bat migration . Wind energy . Infrastructure . Post-construction monitoring . Stable isotopes . Nyctalus noctula
Dragoş Ş. Măntoiu and Kseniia Kravchenko contributed equally to this work. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Road Ecology Guest Editor: Marcello D’Amico Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-020-01378-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Dragoş Ştefan Măntoiu [email protected] 1
2
Romanian Academy, “Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology, Clinicilor 5, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania EPC Consultanţă de mediu Environmental Consulting, Haga 7, S1, 011777 Bucharest, Romania
3
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
4
Bat Rehabilitation Centre Feldman Ecopark, Kiev Highway 12, Lesnoye, Ukraine
5
Romanian Institute of Science and
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