Limited accessibility and bias in wildlife-wind energy knowledge: A bilingual systematic review of a globally distributed bird group

Fernández-Bellon, D.

Sci Total Environ (2020) 737: 140238

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140238

Abstract

Wind energy is a key component of climate action strategies aimed at reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Despite providing environmental benefits, there are increasing concerns surrounding the impact of wind farms on wildlife, with research indicating that effects on wildlife can be highly variable between species, regions, and sites. In light of this variability and the accelerating growth of the wind energy sector globally, a comprehensive understanding of wind farm effects on wildlife and ease of access to this knowledge are pivotal to inform best practice if wind energy is to become a truly sustainable source of energy. This review evaluates interactions between a globally distributed bird genus (harriers, Circus sp.) and wind farms to assess broader patterns in wildlife-wind energy knowledge accessibility and bias. A systematic review of grey and peer-reviewed literature across two multidisciplinary and two field-specific databases in two languages (English and Spanish) yielded 235 relevant sources, covering 12 harrier species and 31 countries. Findings indicate that harriers are considered to have high sensitivity to wind farms, with greatest impacts expected from habitat effects rather than from turbine collisions. In the broader wildlife-wind energy context, this study underscores (i) the predominance of grey literature and of sources solely documenting species-wind farm overlaps; (ii) limitations in grey literature availability and peer-reviewed publication accessibility; (iii) lack of standardized research and monitoring practices; and (iv) evidence of language, taxonomic, and geographic bias in literature sources. Overall, findings demonstrate that limited accessibility to wildlife-wind energy knowledge risks widening the research-implementation gap. Widespread implementation of open practices that allow researchers and practitioners to build on existing knowledge (e.g. national and international online repositories and databases, knowledge sharing and collaborative initiatives, open access publications) is crucial if ongoing wind energy development efforts are to be successfully aligned with conservation priorities.

Citation

Fernández-Bellon, D. (2020). Limited accessibility and bias in wildlife-wind energy knowledge: A bilingual systematic review of a globally distributed bird group. Sci Total Environ, 737, 140238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140238 Animals, Birds, Ecosystem, Animals, Wild, *Energy-Generating Resources, *Wind, Circus sp., Collision risk, Displacement, energy companies. None of these organisations were involved in the development of, Grey literature, Harrier, Impact assessment, independently funded section of McCarthy Keville O’Sullivan. McCarthy Keville, interests: The author is affiliated with MKO Research, a not-for-profit,, interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing, O’Sullivan receives funding from a variety of external sources including renewable, the work presented here.

Keywords

• Animals
• Birds
• Ecosystem
• Animals
• Wild
• *Energy-Generating Resources
• *Wind
• Circus sp.
• Collision risk
• Displacement
• energy companies. None of these organisations were involved in the development of
• Grey literature
• Harrier
• Impact assessment
• independently funded section of McCarthy Keville O’Sullivan. McCarthy Keville
• interests: The author is affiliated with MKO Research
• a not-for-profit,
• interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing
• O’Sullivan receives funding from a variety of external sources including renewable
• the work presented here.