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PARIS – Wind farms are now acting as a top predator in some ecosystems, harming birds at the top of the food chain and causing a drive effect often overlooked by green energy advocates, scientists said Monday. .
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 the researchers warned that developers had "largely underweight" estimated "the impact of technology on wildlife.
In a new research, an international team of scientists has studied the effects of using wind turbines in the Western Ghats, a mountain range and forest area listed by UNESCO 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 reverberated through the food web and radically altered the density and behavior of prey birds.
In particular, the team observed an explosion of raptors' favorite meal – the narrow-throated lizard – in the areas dominated by turbines.
In addition, they found significant changes in the behavior and appearance of lizards, living as if they were in an environment essentially free of predators.
"What was remarkable for us was the subtle changes in the behavior, morphology and physiology of these lizards," said Maria Thaker, Assistant Professor at the Center for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science and author main part of the study.
When the number of raptors decreased around the turbines, the number of predator attacks to which the lizards were subjected also decreased.
As a result, the team found that lizards living in and around wind farms had decreased their alertness to potential hazards.
By simulating "predator attacks", humans participating in the study could be five times closer to a lizard in wind farm areas than those living far from turbines before the creatures escape.
After tests, it was found that the lizards near the turbines had a lower stress hormone – a phenomenon that had to appear over the past two decades since the construction of wind farms in the Western Ghats.
Wind farms are known to be harmful to birds, disrupting their migration patterns and leading to above average mortality rates.
Thaker said his research, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, showed that wind farms were replicating the role of the main predator in the food chain by keeping raptors at bay.
"They cause changes in the balance of animals in an ecosystem as if they were top predators," she said.
"They are the predators of raptors – not in the sense of killing them, but by reducing the presence of raptors in those areas."
As human-made carbon emissions continue to increase, Thaker said that wind energy is critical to mitigating the effects of climate change.
But with evidence that the impact of wind farms is expanding deeper than expected into Earth's ecosystems, she called for greater consideration of the environmental impact of the vital energy source. green.
"It has taken scientists decades to realize that wind turbines have a negative impact on flying animals," Thaker said.
"We need to be smart about how we are deploying green energy solutions. Reduce our footprint on the planet and install turbines in previously disturbed places, such as buildings. "
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