Predator wind turbines strike birds, damage the ecosystem

PARIS: Wind farms are one of the main "predators" of some ecosystems, harming birds at the top of the food chain and causing a shock effect neglected by green energy advocates, announced Monday scientists.

Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy sector, providing about 4% of global electricity demand.

Nearly 17 million hectares – an area roughly equivalent to Tunisia – are currently used to produce wind power worldwide, and researchers have warned that developers have " largely underestimated "the impact of technology on wildlife.

An international team of scientists investigated the effects of using wind turbines in Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage mountain range and forest covering the West Coast region of India. a global hotspot for biodiversity.

They found that predatory raptor birds were four times rarer in plateau areas where wind turbines were present, a disturbance that was reflected in the food chain and radically altered the density and behavior of prey birds.

The team observed an explosion of the favorite dish of raptors, ghost lizards, in areas dominated by turbines.

As the number of raptors dwindled around the turbines, the number of predatory attacks that lizards faced also decreased. As a result, the team found that lizards living in and around wind farms had decreased their alertness to potential hazards.

Research, published in "Nature Ecology & Evolution", showed that wind farms were a replica of the role of the main predator in the food chain by keeping raptors away.