Avoidance and attraction responses of kittiwakes to three offshore wind farms in the North Sea

Pollock, Christopher J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5859-9437; Johnston, Daniel T.; Boersch-Supan, Philipp H.; Thaxter, Chris B.; Humphreys, Elizabeth M.; O’Hanlon, Nina J.; Clewley, Gary D.; Weston, Ewan D.; Shamoun-Baranes, Judy; Cook, Aonghais S.C.P.. 2024 Avoidance and attraction responses of kittiwakes to three offshore wind farms in the North Sea. Marine Biology, 171 (11), 217. 14, pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04542-y

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04542-y

Abstract/Summary

Seabird collision risk is a key concern in relation to the environmental impacts associated with offshore wind farms (OWFs). Understanding how species respond both to the wind farm itself, and individual turbines within the wind farm, is key to enabling better quantification and management of collision risk. Collision risk is of particular concern for the black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, where modelling predicts unsustainable population level impacts. In this study 20 adult breeding kittiwakes, were tracked with GPS from Whinnyfold, Scotland (57°23′07″N, 001°52′11″W) during the breeding season in 2021. An Avoidance-Attraction Index (AAI) was estimated at several bands within macro- and meso-scales (0–4 km from outer boundary and 0–400 m from turbines, respectively), and the Avoidance Rate (AR; used in environmental impact assessments) at macro-scale to estimate avoidance behaviour to three operational OWFs within their foraging range. One offshore wind farm and its buffer zone (0–4 km from outer boundary) was visited more frequently by the majority of tracked individuals (19/20 birds), despite being twice as far as the closest OWF (17.3 and 31.9 km respectively), whilst 10 or less individuals used the remaining two OWFs. At the most frequented OWF we found macro-scale attraction to the closest band (0–1 km) trending towards avoidance in the furthest band (3–4 km). At the meso-scale we found avoidance of areas below the rotor height range (RHR, a.k.a. rotor swept area/zone) up to 120 m from individual turbines, which decreased to 60 m when within the RHR. Our results indicate that kittiwakes may be slightly attracted to the area around OWFs or aggregate here due to displacement but avoid individual turbines. Increased productivity in the OWF area may potentially be drawing birds into the general area, with aversion to individual turbines being responsible for meso-scale observations.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04542-y
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0025-3162
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, avoidance, attraction, collision-risk modelling, offshore wind farm
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Data and Information
Related URLs:	Dataset
Date made live:	04 Nov 2024 11:57 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538320

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04542-y

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0025-3162

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, avoidance, attraction, collision-risk modelling, offshore wind farm