Assessing the effects of onshore windfarms on aerial wildlife: an industry/CWS/academic consortium

该提案旨在获得基础设施和正在进行的研究成本，以启动对不列颠哥伦比亚省拟建风力发电场周围鸟类和蝙蝠活动的前期和后期研究。2006年，不列颠哥伦比亚省的第一批风能项目与不列颠哥伦比亚省水电公司达成了购电协议，并将于2009年投入运营。2007年，该省东北部地区的一些额外选址目前正在进行环境评估，等待批准。然而，不列颠哥伦比亚省独特的地形和动物群，使得推断其他风电场对空中野生动物的影响变得困难，这可能会阻碍这种清洁能源的开发。该中心是UNBC、阿卡迪亚大学和加拿大野生动物管理局(CWS)的研究人员与行业合作伙伴的合资企业，专注于开发技术和进行现场研究，以更好地了解空中野生动物(鸟类和蝙蝠)如何利用拟建风力发电场周围的空域和栖息地。这些信息将被用来减少风电场的直接(碰撞)和间接(栖息地丧失、物种从重要喂食区转移、回避行为)影响的可能性。我们的目标是对受影响野生动物的迁徙行为进行详细分析，考虑迁徙时机、迁徙距离和迁徙高度等因素与地形和天气模式的关系。这将与详细研究拟议的风电场区域作为觅食区、中转点和迁徙物种繁殖地的重要性结合在一起。通过在建设之前详细了解这些区域对野生动物的利用，我们可以预测可能实现的影响，然后与风能生产商合作，将这些影响降至最低。这笔赠款申请的资金将用于开发高性能跟踪设备(具有计算机接口的远程操作雷达，能够识别和自动跟踪野生动物目标)，以监测候鸟和蝙蝠。资金还将用于支持研究生研究，帮助更好地确定野生动物/风力发电场冲突的确切性质，以及减少这些冲突的机制。

The proposal is to gain infrastructure and ongoing research costs to initiate pre-construction and post-construction research on birds and bat movement around proposed wind farm sites in BC. In 2006, the first wind energy proposals in British Columbia secured power-purchase agreements with BC Hydro, and will be operational by 2009. In 2007, a number of additional sites in the northeastern region of the province are currently undertaking environmental assessments for approval. BC's unique topography and fauna, however, make extrapolation of the effects of other wind farms on aerial wildlife difficult, and this could impede developing this clean energy source. The Centre is a joint venture between researchers at UNBC, Acadia University, and the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and industry partners that focuses on developing technologies and conducting on-site research to better understand how aerial wildlife (birds and bats) utilize the airspace and habitat around proposed wind farm sites. This information will be used to reduce the potential for direct (collisions) and indirect (habitat loss, displacement of species from important feeding areas, avoidance behavior) impacts of wind farms. Our goal is to conduct detailed analysis of the movement behaviour of affected wildlife, considering factors such as migrational timing, distance and height of migrants in relation to both landscape and weather patterns. This will be combined with detailed study of the importance of proposed wind farm areas as foraging areas, stop-over points and breeding habitat for migratory species.Through detailed understanding of wildlife use of these areas prior to construction, we can predict the potential for impacts to be realized, and then work with wind energy producers to minimize these effects. The funding in this grant application will be used to develop high-performance tracking equipment (remotely operated radars with computer interfaces capable of identifying and automatically tracking wildlife targets) to monitor migrating birds and bats. Funding will also be used to support graduate student research that help better define the exact nature of wildlife/wind farm conflicts and mechanisms to reduce these conflicts.