Hotspots in the grid: Avian sensitivity and vulnerability to collision risk from energy infrastructure interactions in Europe and North Africa

Wind turbines and power lines can cause bird mortality due to collision or
electrocution. The biodiversity impacts of energy infrastructure (EI) can
be minimised through effective landscape-scale planning and mitigation.
The identification of high-vulnerability areas is urgently needed to
assess potential cumulative impacts of EI while supporting the transition
to zero-carbon energy. We collected GPS location data from 1,454 birds
from 27 species susceptible to collision within Europe and North Africa
and identified areas where tracked birds are most at risk of colliding
with existing EI. Sensitivity to EI development was estimated for wind
turbines and power lines by calculating the proportion of GPS flight
locations at heights where birds were at risk of collision and accounting
for species’ specific susceptibility to collision. We mapped the maximum
collision sensitivity value obtained across all species, in each 5x5 km
grid cell, across Europe and North Africa. Vulnerability to collision was
obtained by overlaying the sensitivity surfaces with density of wind
turbines and transmission power lines. Results: Exposure to risk varied
across the 27 species, with some species flying consistently at heights
where they risk collision. For areas with sufficient tracking data within
Europe and North Africa, 13.6% of the area was classified as high
sensitivity to wind turbines and 9.4% was classified as high sensitivity
to transmission power lines. Sensitive areas were concentrated within
important migratory corridors and along coastlines. Hotspots of
vulnerability to collision with wind turbines and transmission power lines
(2018 data) were scattered across the study region with highest
concentrations occurring in central Europe, near the strait of Gibraltar
and the Bosporus in Turkey. Synthesis and Applications: We identify the
areas of Europe and North Africa that are most sensitive for the specific
populations of birds for which sufficient GPS tracking data at high
spatial resolution were available. We also map vulnerability hotspots
where mitigation at existing EI should be prioritised to reduce collision
risks. As tracking data availability improves our method could be applied
to more species and areas to help reduce bird-EI conflicts.