Investigating bird flight characteristics and habitat use to better understand ornithological impacts of wind farms
type: CreativeWork
description: Governments are increasingly turning to renewable energy sources to meet growing energy demands. Wind energy is currently one of the most technologically advanced, cheapest and reliable forms of renewable energy and so is a key component in government renewable energy strategies. However, wind energy development can have negative environmental impacts and so, to ensure sustainable development, it is necessary that impacts on the environment are adequately assessed. The impacts of wind farms on birds have been of particular concern. In this thesis I have highlighted how bird flight characteristics and habitat use can be better quantified and the consequences this may have for the assessment of the impacts of wind energy developments on birds. Assessing the risk of collision between birds and wind turbines is a pre-requisite for the sustainable development of wind energy and, in many countries, is a legislative requirement under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. Collisions between birds and turbines are often predicted using theoretical models requiring information on flight activity, particularly flight height and speed. Methods recommended by statutory nature conservation bodies for the collection of such flight data include observer-based visual estimates of flight height and literature-derived values of flight speed. Data derived from such methods have been found to be inaccurate and imprecise when compared to more empirical, sensor-based methods. Therefore, I developed a framework to highlight how the tools and technologies already applied to the collection of bird flight, such as telemetry and radar, may be most usefully applied given the requirements of the EIA process and, in so doing, aim to help update guidance on bird flight measurement. I also recommend a more behaviour-based approach to collision risk estimation and highlight how data for such estimation can be collected within the framework. A quantitative demonstration of the improvemen…
abstract: Governments are increasingly turning to renewable energy sources to meet growing energy demands. Wind energy is currently one of the most technologically advanced, cheapest and reliable forms of renewable energy and so is a key component in government renewable energy strategies. However, wind energy development can have negative environmental impacts and so, to ensure sustainable development, it is necessary that impacts on the environment are adequately assessed. The impacts of wind farms on birds have been of particular concern. In this thesis I have highlighted how bird flight characteristics and habitat use can be better quantified and the consequences this may have for the assessment of the impacts of wind energy developments on birds. Assessing the risk of collision between birds and wind turbines is a pre-requisite for the sustainable development of wind energy and, in many countries, is a legislative requirement under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. Collisions between birds and turbines are often predicted using theoretical models requiring information on flight activity, particularly flight height and speed. Methods recommended by statutory nature conservation bodies for the collection of such flight data include observer-based visual estimates of flight height and literature-derived values of flight speed. Data derived from such methods have been found to be inaccurate and imprecise when compared to more empirical, sensor-based methods. Therefore, I developed a framework to highlight how the tools and technologies already applied to the collection of bird flight, such as telemetry and radar, may be most usefully applied given the requirements of the EIA process and, in so doing, aim to help update guidance on bird flight measurement. I also recommend a more behaviour-based approach to collision risk estimation and highlight how data for such estimation can be collected within the framework. A quantitative demonstration of the improvemen…
author: Largey, Nicola
language: eng
date published: 2021-5-5
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:12:07Z
provider: University of the Highlands and Islands
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of the Highlands and Islands