Greater impacts of wind farms on bird populations during construction than subsequent operation: results of a multi-site and multi-species analysis, by J. W. Pearce-Higgins, L. Stephen, A. Douse & R. H. W. Langston. Journal of Applied Ecology, v49 n2 p386-394, April 2012 (open access)
http://bit.ly/IXI50R (journal commentary)
http://bit.ly/yaIDYE (full article)
[From editor's commentary]…the effects of wind farms on bird densities vary considerably among species… Of the 10 species they analyse data for, the densities of snipe.., curlew… and red grouse.., are lower during construction compared to pre-construction. While the densities of the latter appeared to recover during the first years of wind farm operation, the densities of both snipe and curlew remained depressed. Further support for the specific effect of wind farm construction as opposed to operation comes from two additional findings. First, curlew densities were also significantly lower during construction on wind farm sites, when compared to densities on paired control sites. Second, in spite of adverse effects on densities of some species during wind farm construction, the authors find little evidence for longer-term population declines in the years thereafter…
