Wind turbines and reptiles

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   I specialise in surveying bats
on wind warms and over the years that I've been doing it I've recorded Common
Lizard basking on a turbine tower once, twice in fringe habitat at the edge of
the turbine plinth and (most notably) once on the electrical terminal at the
base of the turbine tower. That's not to mention the lizards that I’ve seen in the habitats
between turbines. 

I’d go further in saying
that all UK reptiles are most responsive to lower, more typically ‘audible’ frequencies,
and not necessarily those you’d expect from electrical discharge. As a result
lower frequency vibrations should result in the greatest negative impact.
However, to the contrary, many reptile populations exist close to major roads,
airports, active quarries, shooting ranges, sea fronts etc and therefore animals
must be highly tolerant of a comprehensive range of both sonic (more invasive)
and ultrasonic (less invasive) vibrations. 

It may be that, combined, visual,
olfactory and vibration cues result in disturbance but, taken singularly,
consistent levels of ambient noise/vibration can be easily adapted to, or passively
accepted in the case of new sites.  

Therefore, i would hypothesize
that noise/vibration disturbance impacts from wind farms on reptiles, resulting
in habitat displacement, are entirely negligible. 

Sonic and ultrasonic disturbance
impacts are criteria for wind farm EcIA in relation to bats and birds. However,
unlike reptiles, it is understandable why species that use sound and echo as
their primary detection cues (bats/Barn owl etc), might be affected by the
noise that turbines generate. Interestingly, I’ve watched Noctule bats use a
line of three turbine towers to demarcate the perimeter of their feeding
ground.  Clever little, adaptable buggers!

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Noodles Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 534	Post Options Post Reply Quote Noodles Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 Jun 2012 at 12:37pm
	I specialise in surveying bats on wind warms and over the years that I've been doing it I've recorded Common Lizard basking on a turbine tower once, twice in fringe habitat at the edge of the turbine plinth and (most notably) once on the electrical terminal at the base of the turbine tower. That's not to mention the lizards that I’ve seen in the habitats between turbines. I’d go further in saying that all UK reptiles are most responsive to lower, more typically ‘audible’ frequencies, and not necessarily those you’d expect from electrical discharge. As a result lower frequency vibrations should result in the greatest negative impact. However, to the contrary, many reptile populations exist close to major roads, airports, active quarries, shooting ranges, sea fronts etc and therefore animals must be highly tolerant of a comprehensive range of both sonic (more invasive) and ultrasonic (less invasive) vibrations. It may be that, combined, visual, olfactory and vibration cues result in disturbance but, taken singularly, consistent levels of ambient noise/vibration can be easily adapted to, or passively accepted in the case of new sites. Therefore, i would hypothesize that noise/vibration disturbance impacts from wind farms on reptiles, resulting in habitat displacement, are entirely negligible. Sonic and ultrasonic disturbance impacts are criteria for wind farm EcIA in relation to bats and birds. However, unlike reptiles, it is understandable why species that use sound and echo as their primary detection cues (bats/Barn owl etc), might be affected by the noise that turbines generate. Interestingly, I’ve watched Noctule bats use a line of three turbine towers to demarcate the perimeter of their feeding ground. Clever little, adaptable buggers!

GemmaJF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359	Post Options Post Reply Quote GemmaJF Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 Jun 2012 at 2:16pm
	It is interesting isn't it that this form of disturbance seems to be tolerated, yet human disturbance such as an increase in dog walking has been observed by many of us to be detrimental. That would tie in very much with a combination of disturbance cues being a key factor. I was thinking of Keith's comment regarding seeing lizards not bat an eyelid when a lorry goes past a few feet away, which I have observed many times, yet if we are out in the field and a family walks by, you can almost guarantee the animals will be spooked if the family take any interest in what you are doing.

sussexecology Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30 Sep 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 411	Post Options Post Reply Quote sussexecology Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 Jun 2012 at 9:36pm
	Thanks guys To be honest, I think there are other reasons why reptiles may not be present on this site, or they are present in very low densities. I find it hard to believe that vibrations from a new wind turbine would cause displacement - like somebody said the vibrrations from a motorway would be very similar and reptile populaitons exist quite happily nearby. Thanks for the info though. Must admist I am more interested in UFO sightings near wind farms now than the original topic! Regards SE Reptile Ecologist