Responses of birds and mammals to long-established wind farms in India

• Published in: Scientific reports 2022-01, Vol.12 (1), p.1339-1339, Article 1339
• Main Authors: Kumara, Honnavalli N., Babu, S., Rao, G. Babu, Mahato, Santanu, Bhattacharya, Malyasri, Rao, Nitin Venkatesh Ranga, Tamiliniyan, D., Parengal, Harif, Deepak, D., Balakrishnan, Athira, Bilaskar, Mahesh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/158; 631/601; 704/158; 704/172; Alternative energy sources; Animals; Biodiversity; Bird migration; Bird populations; Birds - physiology; Clean energy; Collision mortality; Conservation; Distribution patterns; Environmental impact; Geographical distribution; Guilds; Humanities and Social Sciences; India; Mammals; Migratory birds; multidisciplinary; Population distribution; Power Plants; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Small mammals; Species richness; Turbines; Wind farms; Wind power
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05159-1

Wind turbines have been recognised as an alternative and clean-energy source with a low environmental impact. The selection of sites for wind-farm often creates serious conservation concerns on biodiversity. Wind turbines have become a serious threat to migratory birds as they collide with the turbine blades in some regions across the globe, while the impact on terrestrial mammals is relatively less explored. In this context, we assessed the responses of birds and mammals to the wind turbines in central Karnataka, India from January 2016 to May 2018 using carcass searches to quantify animal collisions (i.e., birds and bats), fixed radius point count for bird population parameters, and an occupancy framework for assessing the factor that determines the spatial occurrence of terrestrial mammals. The mean annual animal fatality rate per wind turbine was 0.26/year. Species richness, abundance, and unique species of birds were relatively higher in control sites over wind turbine sites. Species and functional compositions of birds in control sites were different from wind turbine sites, explaining the varied patterns of bird assemblages of different feeding guilds. Blackbuck, Chinkara, Golden Jackal, and Jungle Cat were less likely to occupy sites with a high number of wind turbines. The study indicates that certain bird and mammal species avoided wind turbine-dominated sites, affecting their distribution pattern. This is of concern to the management of the forested areas with wind turbines. We raised conservation issues and mitigating measures to overcome the negative effects of wind turbines on animals.