Renewable energies and biodiversity: impact of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic sites on bat activity

Renewable energy is growing at a rapid pace globally, but as yet there has been little research on the effects of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) developments on bats, many species of which are threatened or protected.
We conducted a paired study at 19 ground-mounted solar PV developments in southwest England. We used static detectors to record bat echolocation calls from boundaries (i.e., hedgerows) and central locations (open areas) at fields with solar PV development, and simultaneously at matched sites without solar PV developments (control fields). We used generalized linear mixed-effect models to assess how solar PV developments and boundary habitat affected bat activity and species richness.
The activity of six of eight species/species groups analysed was negatively affected by solar PV panels, suggesting that loss and/or fragmentation of foraging/commuting habitat is caused by ground-mounted solar PV panels. Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Nyctalus spp. activity was lower ..., Sampling design
We implemented a paired study design across 19 solar PV sites to assess whether bat species richness and activity were higher in fields and along boundary habitats that contained PV panels, compared with ‘empty’, matched control sites. This resulted in 19 sampling points for solar boundary habitat, 19 for solar open habitat, 19 for control boundary habitat, and 19 for control open habitat. All sites were located in south-west England, where the highest concentration of solar PV sites and greatest bat species richness in the UK coincide (Mathews et al. 2018; Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy 2021). Where private land was entered, permissions were granted by land owners and the relevant solar farm companies. No ethical approval was required for this study as we passively monitored bats through acoustic recordings.
The control sites were within the same land management boundary as the solar PV site, and matched as closely as possible in plot size, habit..., Microsoft Excel
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