Offshore wind farm effects on ocean fronts and seabirds

海上风电场（owf）将对海洋生态系统产生重要影响，尽管间接影响实际上是未知的。例如，OWF的建设和运营可能会影响海洋锋的形成，而海洋锋是某些物种重要的觅食栖息地（Scales et al. 2014a）。我们的项目联合了生态学家和遥感科学家，以了解OWF如何改变海洋锋面，以及这如何影响海鸟的觅食行为。我们将在追踪的北方塘鹅（Morus bassanus）中研究这一点，这是一种在海洋前沿兼职觅食的物种（Scales et al. 2014; Cox et al. 2016）。我们的目标如下：为了测试风电场建设前后海洋锋面的变化，重点关注北海的遥感锋面测绘。目标2。量化塘鹅觅食成功与海洋锋面的关系。目标3。使用控制影响前后（BACI）设计，比较两个种群之间与海洋锋面相关的塘鹅觅食成功，一个种群在建设/运营风电场（Bass Rock），另一个种群在研究期间没有风电场（Grassholm）。这个跨学科项目是遥感科学和海洋生态/养护的结合，同时也利用计算科学和扩大海洋空间规划之间的联系。

Offshore windfarms (OWFs) will have important consequences for marine ecosystems, although indirect effects are virtually unknown. For instance, OWF construction and operation may impact ocean front formation, which are important foraging habitats for some species (Scales et al. 2014a). Our project unites ecologists and remote sensing scientists to understand how OWF may alter ocean fronts and how this impacts seabird foraging behaviour. We will examine this in tracked northern gannets (Morus bassanus), a species which forages facultatively at ocean fronts (Scales et al. 2014; Cox et al. 2016). Our objectives are as follows:Objective 1. To test for changes in ocean fronts before and after wind farm construction, focussing on remotely sensed front mapping of the North Sea.Objective 2. Quantify gannet foraging success in relation to ocean fronts.Objective 3. Using a Before After Control Impact (BACI) design, compare gannet foraging success in relation to ocean fronts between two colonies, one with wind farm in construction/operation (Bass Rock) and one with no wind farms during the study (Grassholm).This interdisciplinary project is at the interface of remote-sensing science and marine ecology/conservation while also exploiting computational science and by expanding linkages between marine spatial planning.