Zhao Shanshan, Xu Huan, Song Ningning, Wang Zhenghuan, Li Ben, Wang Tianhou
School of Life Science East China Normal University Shanghai China.
Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC) Shanghai China.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Aug 20;10(17):9567-9580. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6701. eCollection 2020 Sep.
Wind farms offer a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels and can mitigate their negative effects on climate change. However, wind farms may have negative impacts on birds. The East China Coast forms a key part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, and it is a crucial region for wind energy development in China. However, despite ducks being the dominant animal taxon along the East China Coast in winter and considered as particularly vulnerable to the effects of wind farms, the potential negative impacts of wind farms on duck populations remain unclear. We therefore assessed the effects of wind farms on duck abundance, distribution, and habitat use at Chongming Dongtan, which is a major wintering site for ducks along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, using field surveys and satellite tracking. We conducted seven paired field surveys of ducks inside wind farm (IWF) and outside wind farm (OWF) sites in artificial brackish marsh, paddy fields, and aquaculture ponds. Duck abundance was significantly higher in OWF compared with IWF sites and significantly higher in artificial brackish marsh than in aquaculture ponds and paddy fields. Based on 1,918 high-resolution satellite tracking records, the main habitat types of ducks during the day and at night were artificial brackish marsh and paddy fields, respectively. Furthermore, grid-based analysis showed overlaps between ducks and wind farms, with greater overlap at night than during the day. According to resource selection functions, habitat use by wintering ducks was impacted by distance to water, land cover, human activity, and wind farm effects, and the variables predicted to have significant impacts on duck habitat use differed between day and night. Our study suggests that wintering ducks tend to avoid wind turbines at Chongming Dongtan, and landscape of paddy fields and artificial wetlands adjoining natural wetlands is crucial for wintering ducks.
风力发电场为化石燃料提供了一种更清洁的替代能源，并能减轻其对气候变化的负面影响。然而，风力发电场可能会对鸟类产生负面影响。中国东部沿海地区是东亚-澳大利西亚候鸟迁徙路线的关键组成部分，也是中国风能开发的重要区域。然而，尽管鸭子是中国东部沿海地区冬季的主要动物类群，且被认为特别容易受到风力发电场的影响，但风力发电场对鸭群数量的潜在负面影响仍不明确。因此，我们利用实地调查和卫星跟踪技术，评估了风力发电场对崇明东滩鸭类数量、分布和栖息地利用的影响。崇明东滩是东亚-澳大利西亚候鸟迁徙路线上鸭子的主要越冬地。我们在风力发电场内部（IWF）和外部（OWF）的人工咸淡水沼泽、稻田和水产养殖池塘中进行了七次配对实地调查。与IWF区域相比，OWF区域的鸭类数量显著更高，且人工咸淡水沼泽中的鸭类数量显著高于水产养殖池塘和稻田。基于1918条高分辨率卫星跟踪记录，鸭子白天和夜间的主要栖息地类型分别是人工咸淡水沼泽和稻田。此外，基于网格的分析表明鸭子与风力发电场存在重叠，夜间的重叠程度大于白天。根据资源选择函数，越冬鸭子的栖息地利用受到与水的距离、土地覆盖、人类活动和风电场影响的影响，并且预测对鸭子栖息地利用有显著影响的变量在白天和夜间有所不同。我们的研究表明，崇明东滩的越冬鸭子倾向于避开风力涡轮机，与天然湿地相邻的稻田和人工湿地景观对越冬鸭子至关重要。
