摘要
Simple Summary Although wind energy provides valuable environmental and economic benefits, it has unintended negative consequences for wildlife, particularly birds and bats that collide with the rotating blades. In North America, for example, there are increasing concerns that wind turbines threaten the persistence of populations of migratory tree-roosting bats, such as the hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus). Because it is not possible to monitor population sizes for these solitary and cryptic species using traditional techniques, we must rely on other methods, such as acoustic and genetic monitoring, to provide information regarding population status and trends. Using these approaches, we can build a weight of evidence to assess whether mortality associated with wind turbines is sustainable and determine if and when mitigation measures should be implemented to reduce wind turbine mortality. To this end, we recommend that acoustic data be collected using the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) protocols, and that genetic diversity be monitored at repeated time intervals to document species trends. There are no short-term measures to resolve population-level questions for migratory tree-roosting bats. Nonetheless, we discuss opportunities for relatively short-term investments that will lead to long-term success in reducing uncertainty for these species.
摘要译文
简单的摘要尽管风能提供了宝贵的环境和经济利益，但它对野生动植物产生了意外的负面影响，尤其是与旋转叶片相撞的鸟类和蝙蝠。例如，在北美，人们越来越担心风力涡轮机威胁着迁徙树木的蝙蝠人群的持续存在，例如Hoary Bat（Lasiurus Cinereus）。由于不可能使用传统技术来监测这些孤独和神秘物种的人口规模，因此我们必须依靠其他方法（例如声学和遗传监测）来提供有关人口状况和趋势的信息。使用这些方法，我们可以建立大量证据，以评估与风力涡轮机相关的死亡率是否可持续，并确定是否应以及何时应采取缓解措施来降低风力涡轮机死亡率。为此，我们建议使用北美BAT监测计划（NABAT）方案收集声学数据，并以重复时间间隔监控遗传多样性以记录物种趋势。没有短期措施来解决人口级别的问题，用于迁移树木植树的蝙蝠。尽管如此，我们讨论了相对短期投资的机会，这将在减少这些物种的不确定性方面长期成功。
Amanda M. Hale;1;* Cris D. Hein;2;Bethany R. Straw3Amanda M. Hale1Department of Biology; Texas Christian University; Fort Worth; TX 76129; USAFind articles by Amanda M. Hale. Acoustic and Genetic Data Can Reduce Uncertainty Regarding Populations of Migratory Tree-Roosting Bats Impacted by Wind Energy[J]. Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI, 2022,12(1)