Background information and definitions
Positioning wind turbines away from bat roosts, foraging areas and commuting or migration routes may reduce bat mortality. At wind farms in the USA, bat fatalities are often dominated by migratory species and are higher during autumn migration periods (e.g. Arnett et al. 2008, Baerwald & Barclay 2009, Piorkowski & O’Connell 2010). A review of reports in northwest Europe found higher fatality rates at wind farms located on forested hills than in flat, open farmland (Rydell et al. 2010). Spatial patterns of bat fatalities within wind farms in Europe and the USA have been found in some studies (Arnett et al. 2008, Baerwald & Barclay 2011, Georgiakakis et al. 2012) but not others (Arnett et al. 2008, Piorkowski & O’Connell 2010).
Arnett E.B., Brown W.K., Erickson W.P., Fiedler J.K., Hamilton B.L., Henry T.H., Jain A., Johnson G.D., Kerns J., Koford R.R., Nicholson C.P., O'Connell T.J., Piorkowski M.D. & Tankersley R.D. (2008) Patterns of bat fatalities at wind energy facilities in North America. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 72, 61–78.
Baerwald E.F. & Barclay R.M.R. (2009) Geographic variation in activity and fatality of migratory bats at wind energy facilities. Journal of Mammalogy, 90, 1341–1349.
Baerwald E.F. & Barclay R.M.R. (2011) Patterns of activity and fatality of migratory bats at a wind energy facility in Alberta, Canada. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 75, 1103–1114.
Georgiakakis P., Kret E., Carcamo B., Doutau B., Kafkaletou-Diez A., Vasilakis D. & Papadatou E. (2012) Bat fatalities at wind farms in north-eastern Greece. Acta Chiropterologica, 14, 459–468.
Piorkowski M.D. & O'Connell T.J. (2010) Spatial pattern of summer bat mortality from collisions with wind turbines in mixed-grass prairie. The American Midland Naturalist, 164, 260–269.
Rydell J., Bach L., Dubourg-Savage M.-J., Green M., Rodrigues L. & Hedenström A. (2010) Bat mortality at wind turbines in northwestern Europe. Acta Chiropterologica, 12, 261–274.