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，尽管间接影响几乎是未知的。例如，OWF的建造和运营可能会影响海洋前沿的形成，而海洋前沿是一些物种的重要觅食栖息地(Scales等人。2014A)。我们的项目联合了生态学家和遥感科学家，以了解OWF可能如何改变海洋锋面，以及这如何影响海鸟的觅食行为。我们将在被追踪的北方鹅(Morus Basanus)中研究这一点，这是一种在海洋前沿兼职觅食的物种(Scales等人)。2014年；考克斯等人。2016)。我们的目标如下：目标1.测试风电场建设前后海锋的变化，重点是北海的遥感锋面图。目标2.量化与海锋有关的捕食成功。目标3.使用事前控制影响(BACI)设计，比较两个蜂群之间与海锋有关的捕食成功，一个蜂群有建设/运营中的风力发电场(Bass Rock)，另一个没有风电场(Grassholm)。这个跨学科的项目是遥感科学和海洋生态/保护的交界点，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.