Wind turbines aren't quite 'apex predators', but the truth is far more interesting

First paragraph: Wind turbines are, it appears, everywhere. Even if you can't see some on the horizon on your way into work every day, it is hard to miss the continual news coverage of new developments. Clearly, efforts to move away from fossil fuels are – at least in part – working, and from the perspective of combating climate change, this must surely be a good thing. However, much of the news coverage of turbines highlights negatives such as a perceived degradation of the landscape, or their impacts on wildlife. There is good cause for concern in this regard, particularly with respect to wildlife.https://theconversation.com/wind-turbines-arent-quite-apex-predators-but-the-truth-is-far-more-interesting-10648

Vegetation structure influences foraging decisions in a declining grassland bird : the importance of fine-scale habitat and grazing regime

Funding: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Research Grant.Capsule: Whinchat Saxicola rubetra foraging behaviour was significantly influenced by habitat structure and grazing. Aims: To assess how foraging habitats selected by breeding Whinchats differed from wider territory attributes under contrasting grazing management in multiple upland areas in Scotland: principally sheep grazed, Red Deer grazed or ungrazed, and to identify how differing land use may limit suitable foraging areas. Methods: We compared fine-scale vegetation structure in patches chosen for foraging by Whinchats in contrasting grazing management regimes. Results: Whinchats were less likely to forage in patches with a greater cover of bracken and tall non-bracken vegetation, regardless of grazing regime. Grass cover influenced foraging behaviour in ungrazed habitats only, where Whinchats were less likely to forage in areas with high grass cover. Conclusion: Whinchats appear to require a mosaic or range of sward structures within breeding territories, highlighting the importance of establishing how vegetation structure influences breeding birds at different spatial scales. Our results suggest that suitable foraging patches were plentiful within grazed habitats but potentially limited in ungrazed habitats. Further work is needed to identify management regimes and interventions to maintain conditions suitable for breeding Whinchats that are compatible with other land use and conservation objectives.PostprintPeer reviewe

Twenty years of change in riverside vegetation: What role have invasive alien plants played?

Question  Which environmental factors influence the occurrence of invasive alien plants (IAPs) in riparian habitats, and how much can IAPs account for change in native vegetation compared with other environmental variables?  Location  Rivers distributed throughout mainland Britain.  Methods  We quantified change in river bank vegetation using survey data collected approximately 20yr apart and assessed the contribution of major IAPs (Impatiens glandulifera, Heracleum mantegazzianum and Fallopia japonica) to these changes. We also determined the importance of abiotic factors such as flow regime and land use in driving these changes.  Results  Comparing data from pre- and post-1990 surveys revealed that IAPs occurred mainly on lowland rivers (<200m a.s.l.), regardless of time period, and their probability of occurrence increased over time and with rising frequency of high flows. Native plant species diversity declined over time with increasing IAP cover, along lowland rivers and along all rivers that experienced extended low flows during the growing season. These conditions particularly favoured native dominant species, whereas native subordinate species responded both positively and negatively to increased flood frequency depending on survey period. Over time, Salix spp. and larger native hydrophilic species, such as Sparganium erectum, increased along lowland rivers, replacing smaller-statured ruderal species and driving a shift towards increased shade tolerance of subcanopy and groundcover species. Smaller compositional changes occurred in the uplands and these changes lacked a clear environmental signature.  Conclusions  National-scale changes in native riparian vegetation are likely driven primarily by environmental changes and land-use effects, rather than invasion by IAPs. However, IAPs, and indeed native species that benefit from abiotic changes, in turn, likely exert secondary effects on native riparian vegetation. The trend towards reduced diversity, increased shade tolerance and increased dominance of some native species and IAPs is likely linked to a set of interacting factors, including drier summers, wetter winters, increased riparian tree cover, reduced livestock access to river banks and increased fine sediment input. Determining combined effects of land use, IAPs and climate-related changes in flow regime over decadal time scales (i.e. ~20yr) is important for predicting ecological responses of vulnerable habitats under future disturbance scenarios

City life makes females fussy : sex differences in habitat use of temperate bats in urban areas

Urbanization is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity; to mitigate its adverse effects, it is essential to understand what drives species' patterns of habitat use within the urban matrix. While many animal species are known to exhibit sex differences in habitat use, adaptability to the urban landscape is commonly examined at the species level, without consideration of intraspecific differences. The high energetic demands of pregnancy and lactation in female mammals can lead to sexual differences in habitat use, but little is known of how this might affect their response to urbanization. We predicted that female Pipistrellus pygmaeus would show greater selectivity of forging locations within urban woodland in comparison to males at both a local and landscape scale. In line with these predictions, we found there was a lower probability of finding females within woodlands which were poorly connected, highly cluttered, with a higher edge : interior ratio and fewer mature trees. By contrast, habitat quality and the composition of the surrounding landscape were less of a limiting factor in determining male distributions. These results indicate strong sexual differences in the habitat use of fragmented urban woodland, and this has important implications for our understanding of the adaptability of bats and mammals more generally to urbanization.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Drivers of public attitudes towards small wind turbines in the UK

This research was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council Studentship (grant reference NE/J500434/1).Small Wind Turbines (SWTs) are a growing micro-generation industry with over 870,000 installed units worldwide. No research has focussed on public attitudes towards SWTs, despite evidence the perception of such attitudes are key to planning outcomes and can be a barrier to installations. Here we present the results of a UK wide mail survey investigating public attitudes towards SWTs. Just over half of our respondents, who were predominantly older, white males, felt that SWTs were acceptable across a range of settings, with those on road signs being most accepted and least accepted in hedgerows and gardens. Concern about climate change positively influenced how respondents felt about SWTs. Respondent comments highlight visual impacts and perceptions of the efficiency of this technology are particularly important to this sector of the UK public. Taking this into careful consideration, alongside avoiding locating SWTs in contentious settings such as hedgerows and gardens where possible, may help to minimise public opposition to proposed installations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Landscape-scale effects of single- and multiple small wind turbines on bat activity

Funding: University of Stirling Impact Fellowship to JM.While the effects of wind farms on bats are widely studied, effects of small wind turbines (SWTs, here <25m hub height) remain understudied. SWTs are installed in a wider range of habitats compared to wind farms and their effect on wildlife can therefore be different. While single SWTs can adversely affect bat activity in their immediate vicinity, they are often installed in clusters, and to date no data are available on whether installation of more than one turbine increases the likelihood of adverse effects on bats.  Here, we test whether (1) SWT installations affect the activity of two species of bat (the common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus and soprano pipistrelle P. pygmaeus) on a landscape scale (here defined as up to 500m from SWTs) and (2) such an effect is stronger when multiple (2-4) SWTs are installed. We show that, after accounting for potentially confounding effects (e.g. variation in habitat and weather), (1) mean P. pipistrellus activity is lower at 0-100m compared to 200-500m from SWTs, and (2) the effect on P. pygmaeus activity tends to be similar and stronger in multiple SWT sites, although evidence for the latter is limited. We conclude that in some cases, adverse effects of SWTs on bat activity may be measurable over longer spatial scales (within 100m) than previously thought. However, combined with earlier findings, it is likely that the bulk of such effects operate within relative close proximity of SWTs (<25m). Moreover, although these effects may be species-specific, with e.g. P. pygmaeus potentially more strongly affected by multiple SWT sites, this requires further data. These findings are highly relevant to decision-making aimed at minimizing any adverse effects of wind turbines, specifically single- vs. multiple SWT developments, on wildlife.PostprintPeer reviewe

Fur and faeces: an experimental assessment of non-invasive DNA sampling for the European pine marten

Non-invasive genetic sampling using materials such as faeces or hair can be used to monitor wildlife populations, although DNA quality is often poor. Improving sampling efficiency and minimising factors that reduce DNA quality are therefore critical. After a severe decline, the European pine marten, Martes martes, has reclaimed much of its former range in Scotland, UK. Recording this rapid range expansion requires developing techniques for accurate monitoring, but this is hampered by the species' elusive behaviour. We tested two sampling methods, hair collected from hair tubes and faeces (scat) collected along tracks, to assess the effects of key environmental and sampling variables on DNA quality and sampling efficiency. For hair, we tested the influence of hair tube location (distance from forest tracks) on collection rate and sex ratio of animals successfully sampled. For scats, we assessed the effect of time since defecation (1 to 16days) on genotyping error rates and success under two contrasting environmental conditions (exposed to rainfall or sheltered). We found no bias in the collection rate or sex ratio of animals detected by hair samples with differing proximity to forest tracks. DNA amplification failure for scats exposed to rainfall increased from 28 to 65% over the 16-day experimental period. During periods of low rainfall, the length of collection sessions could therefore be extended to increase sample number without risk of DNA degradation. Lack of bias in hair collection rates with proximity to forest tracks provides justification for tube placement close to tracks, as this reduces survey effort. These findings provide guidance for the development of efficient and cost-effective non-invasive sampling of Scottish pine martens

Effects of stakeholder empowerment on crane population and agricultural production

Conflicts between opposing objectives of wildlife conservation and agriculture are increasing globally due to rising human food production and competition with wildlife over land use. Conservation conflicts are often complex and driven by variability and uncertainty in wildlife distribution and stakeholder wealth and power. To manage conflicts, empowering local stakeholders by decentralizing decisions and actions has been suggested to promote democratization and awareness of stakeholders. There is, however, a current gap in the understanding of how stakeholder empowerment (e.g., farmers’ and managers’ practical, time or monetary resources) affects policy effectiveness. In this study, we apply an individual-based model of management strategy evaluation to simulate the conservation conflict surrounding protected and thriving common cranes (Grus grus) causing damage to agricultural production in Sweden and along the European flyways. We model the effect of farmer empowerment (i.e., increasing budgets to affect populations and agricultural production) in four management scenarios, in which we manipulate the availability and cost of two actions farmers may take in response to crane presence on their land: non-lethal (scaring) or lethal (culling) control. We find that lower budgets lead to increases in population size due to increased use of less costly scaring instead of shooting. Higher farmer budgets lead to increased population extinction risk. Intermediate budgets allow farmers to control the population size around the management target and limit impact on agricultural production to intermediate levels. Our study highlights that stakeholder empowerment and culling strategies based on the number of stakeholders, and particularly their power to implement effective actions, needs careful consideration and monitoring when setting management targets and strategies. Further, our results show that empowering individual farmers has the potential to contribute to conflict management and to balance agricultural with conservation objectives, but increased stakeholder involvement also requires careful planning and monitoring

Experimental Evidence for the Effect of Small Wind Turbine Proximity and Operation on Bird and Bat Activity

The development of renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines forms a vital part of strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Although large wind farms generate the majority of wind energy, the small wind turbine (SWT, units generating &lt;50 kW) sector is growing rapidly. In spite of evidence of effects of large wind farms on birds and bats, effects of SWTs on wildlife have not been studied and are likely to be different due to their potential siting in a wider range of habitats. We present the first study to quantify the effects of SWTs on birds and bats. Using a field experiment, we show that bird activity is similar in two distance bands surrounding a sample of SWTs (between 6-18 m hub height) and is not affected by SWT operation at the fine scale studied. At shorter distances from operating turbines (0-5 m), bat activity (measured as the probability of a bat "pass" per hour) decreases from 84% (71-91%) to 28% (11-54%) as wind speed increases from 0 to 14 m/s. This effect is weaker at greater distances (20-25 m) from operating turbines (activity decreases from 80% (65-89%) to 59% (32-81%)), and absent when they are braked. We conclude that bats avoid operating SWTs but that this effect diminishes within 20 m. Such displacement effects may have important consequences especially in landscapes where suitable habitat is limiting. Planning guidance for SWTs is currently lacking. Based on our results we recommend that they are sited at least 20 m away from potentially valuable bat habitat

Decision Trees for Data Publishing May Exacerbate Conservation Conflict

First paragraph: Tulloch et al. have rightly highlighted the need to increase the accessibility of species occurrence data to better support conservation efforts. They present a tree to aid decisions regarding making data publicly available. Their tree is essentially a visual aid to existing protocols. However, we feel that, owing to its failure to explicitly account for likely disagreements among stakeholders throughout the process, the proposed method may inadvertently fuel conservation conflicts.Output Type: Lette