Bats in the Rotor Zone...Managing Risk with Acoustics

Trevor Peterson

Stantec Consulting Services Inc.; University of Maine

Trevor Peterson works as a biologist and project manager for Stantec Consulting Services Inc in Topsham, Maine, where he specializes in work related to renewable energy projects, bat migration, and rare species assessments. Since joining the company in 2003, Trevor’s project experience has included vernal pool water quality and ecological monitoring, spotted turtle inventory and telemetry, natural community characterization, acoustic bat surveys, breeding bird surveys, vegetation monitoring, and raptor surveys. He also conducted one of the first nanotag bat migration surveys in the Gulf of Maine. He has an undergraduate degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College, and is currently enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Maine’s Ecology and Environmental Sciences program. Trevor’s research focuses on use of long-term acoustic bat survey data to study bat migration and predict and manage potential impacts from land-based and offshore wind projects. Before working at Stantec, Trevor worked seasonally for the National Park Service at Acadia National Park and Isle Royale National Park.

Abstract

Acoustic bat surveys provide an increasingly reliable and efficient method to monitor bat activity in challenging environments. Acoustic monitoring has been a recommended component of pre-construction surveys at proposed wind projects for a decade or more, with the typical resulting metric being the number of bat passes detected per survey night over an extended survey period. However, this metric has proven to be a poor predictor of bat mortality rates documented through post-construction carcass searches. Instead of being used as a tool to measure overall activity levels, acoustic survey results could be applied far more effectively as a means of actively identifying high risk conditions in the rotor zone. The portion of the aerosphere in which wind turbines operate provides a highly dynamic component of bat habitat, the suitability of which varies with changing conditions such as temperature, wind speed, time of night, and season. Assuming a link between bat presence in the rotor zone and risk of turbine-related impacts, modeling the relationship between these changing conditions and bat activity could therefore help design and optimize wind turbine curtailment program based on multiple parameters. We report results of a multi-year study at an operating wind project in the northeast where bat activity measured at turbine nacelles was used to design a customized curtailment system. Additional acoustic surveys and concurrent carcass searches were then conducted to validate the effectiveness of the system at preventing turbine operation during conditions with higher predicted bat risk and reducing bat mortality rates. This study represents the first commercial example of a highly effective automated curtailment system designed using site-specific acoustic data and validated with follow-up acoustic monitoring and carcass surveys. Results of this study indicate that analyzing bat activity and weather conditions in the rotor zone can provide a reliable, quantitative method to design data-driven curtailment systems and predict their effectiveness and cost. This approach can also provide quantitative metrics to help inform adaptive management processes.

Authors

Trevor Peterson (Stantec Consulting Services Inc.; University of Maine)

Topic Areas

Assessing direct and indirect effects on wildlife and their habitats , Evaluating novel approaches (e.g., conceptual, methodological, technological) to avoiding, , Bats , Risk prediction , Testing the efficacy of efforts intended to minimize or compensate for impacts to species , Threatened or endangered species , U.S. - No Specific Region , U.S. - Northeast (USFWS Region 5) , Impact assessment , Mitigation , Methodology , Technology - detection or deterrent , Land-based , Offshore

Session

08 » Operational Mitigation - Strategies to Minimize Bat Fatalities (10:25 - Thursday, 1st December, Interlocken Ballroom)

Presentation Files

The presenter has not uploaded any presentation files.

Email Support • Blog • Privacy Policy • Cancellation Policy