How a Wind Farm in the Western Ghats of India Affected Lizards – Quartz India

Renewable energies may be more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels, but that does not mean they do not harm the environment.

In fact, a hot spot of biodiversity in India is already starting to change because of the country's willingness to seek alternative sources

In the Western Ghats, a mountain range that spans six Indian states along the west coast, wind farms have reduced the abundance and hunting of predatory birds such as raptors, according to a recent study by Indian researchers Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru

As a result, wind turbines create a "predator-free environment" that changes the behavior and even the form of creatures further down the food chain.

Among the most remarkable of this category is the Sarada Superba or fan-headed lizard.

Males of this species, found only in southern Asia, have a shred in the throat that becomes brightly colored. They used this technique to attract partners.

The site investigated by researchers was the Chalkewadi Plateau in Satara District, near the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve and the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra State. This plateau has one of the largest and oldest wind farms in the region. In their study, published earlier this week in Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers compared the site to other protected forest areas in the neighborhood.

"The reason we chose this area is that the lizards we studied are actually the most dominant. prey in this landscape … And so we expected that eliminating raptors changed, these lizards would undergo a change. And that's what we found, "said Quartz Maria Thaker, co-author of the study and badistant professor at IISc.

The density of lizards was higher in wind turbine areas and these lizards showed a reduced tendency to escape when they were approached, suggesting that they were not safe. used to an environment with fewer predators.

The decrease in the number of predator attacks has allowed the species to thrive in the region, which could result in increased competition for food. Thaker and his team have found that male lizards near wind turbines have less intense colors than their counterparts elsewhere, probably because of the limited availability of beetles, which are one of the favorite foods of lizards and rich in carotenoids. that help with pigmentation. The researchers argue that the color change could have consequences for badual selection.

Although the long-term ramification of all this is still unknown, Thaker says, in theory there could be a cascading effect on insects and plants. lower in the food chain.

This is one of the least discussed results of India's decision to produce more renewable energy, which has accelerated under the Narendra-led government. modi. The government has set an ambitious goal of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. This includes 60 GW from wind energy, which has fueled the rise of wind farm infrastructure in India, including along the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. supposed to shelter at least 325 species of threatened flora, fauna, birds and reptiles.

Although the study focuses on a single plateau, the environmental risks of wind farm infrastructure have been documented around the world, especially with respect to dwindling birds near large turbines. And even in India, the proliferation of renewable energy plants has already had dramatic effects on the population of the endangered Indian Great Bustard in its last habitat, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

But these results are not conclusive. India must give up wind energy

"In the choice between wind turbines and fossil fuels, it is still wind turbines," she explained. "Let's just be smart about where they are. Do not place them in unique or special areas or in biodiversity, because we will regret it if these places change. "

Wind turbines should be placed at the top of buildings or in areas already irreversibly damaged by human activity, she suggests, rather than in the pristine forests of India.

Image from the device by Ashwin Kumar on Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 Image of Krishna Khan on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.