Wind farms are an essential component of global renewable energy policy and the action to limit the effects of climate change. There is, however, considerable concern over the impacts of wind farms on wildlife, leading to a wide range of research and monitoring studies, a growing body of literature and several international conferences on the topic.
This unique multi-volume work provides a comprehensive overview of the interactions between wind farms and wildlife.
Volume 3 documents the current knowledge of the potential effects upon wildlife during both construction and operation of offshore wind farms. An introductory chapter on the nature of wind farms and the legislation surrounding them is followed by a series of in-depth chapters documenting effects on physical processes, atmosphere and ocean dynamics, seabed communities, fish, marine mammals, migratory birds and bats and seabirds. A synopsis of the known and potential effects of wind farms upon wildlife concludes the volume.
The authors have been carefully selected from across the globe from the large number of academics, consultants and practitioners now engaged in wind farm studies, for their influential contribution to the science. Edited by Martin Perrow and with contributions by 30 leading researchers including: Göran Broström, Steven Degraer, Mike Elliot, Andrew Gill, Ommo Hüppop, Georg Nehls and Nicolas Vanermen. The authors represent a wide range of organisations and institutions including the Universities of Gothenburg, Hamburg and Hull, Alfred Wegener Institute, Cefas (UK), Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vattenfall and several leading consultancies.
Each chapter includes informative figures, tables, colour photographs and detailed case studies, including some from invited authors to showcase exciting new research.
The nature of offshore wind farms
Helen Jameson, Emilie Reeve, Bjarke Laubek and Heike Sittel
Physical and chemical effects
Jon M. Rees and Adrian D. Judd
Atmosphere and ocean dynamics
Göran Broström, Elke Ludewig, Anja Schneehorst and Thomas Pohlmann
Seabed communities
J. Dannheim, S. Degraer, M. Elliott, K. Smyth and J.C. Wilson
Fish
Andrew B. Gill and Dan Wilhelmsson
Marine mammals
Georg Nehls, Andrew J.P. Harwood and Martin R. Perrow
Migratory birds and bats
Ommo Hüppop, Bianca Michalik, Lothar Bach, Reinhold Hill and Steven K. Pelletier
Seabird displacement
Nicolas Vanermen and Eric W.M. Stienen
Seabirds: collision
Sue King
A synthesis of effects and impacts
Martin R. Perrow
Index
Martin Perrow is Founder and Director of ECON Ecological Consultancy Ltd and currently manages the ornithological requirements of several wind farm sites, assessing the likely impacts and providing advice in order to engineer the co-existence of birds and wind farms with minimal impacts. He has published widely on the subject.
"[...] This four-volume series provides a much-needed overview of the potential effects of wind farms on wildlife and local ecosystems as well as potential solutions. Due to inherent differences between onshore and offshore wind farms, the series is divided into four volumes written by leading experts in the field, although the writing style is very accessible for a broad professional audience. The four volumes are similar in structure and topic coverage, and each can be read independently [...] We consider these four volumes to provide an excellent introduction and overview into the broad range of effects of wind farms on ecological systems, and on monitoring methodologies and potential mitigation measures. The volumes are highly recommended to anyone interested in the field – students, researchers, consultants, practitioners and policy-makers, even if their focus is only on a single taxonomic group. Due to the imbalance in research conducted worldwide, as explicitly mentioned by the editor and authors, Volumes 1 and 2 provide contributions mainly from North American and Europe and Volumes 3 and 4 have a stronger geographical bias towards research in western Europe. That understandable bias will hopefully be more limited in the future as data from other parts of the world become available. Several chapters would have benefitted from cross-references between chapters, but the final chapter of each volume generally integrates information well, highlighting gaps in our knowledge and providing some suggestions for the future. In this quickly growing field, where a great deal of work is not published in peer-reviewed journals, these highly informative and accessible volumes are a great place to start, as they are structured to facilitate both quick referencing and more in-depth reading."
– Judy Shamoun-Baranes, Elspeth Sage, Jens van Erp & Emiel van Loon, Ibis, 2020
"[...] I would highly recommend this book to any novices looking to gain an in-depth overview of OWFs [offshore wind farms] and the challenges faced within the offshore wind energy sector. It’s also good for those specialists looking to gain a more holistic view of the ecological and environmental effects that OWFs may have, thus broadening their ability to work constructively with other specialists in the sector to minimise environmental impacts as a whole."
– Ros Green, BTO book reviews