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dc.contributor.authorRussell, Deborah J. F.
dc.contributor.authorHastie, Gordon D.
dc.contributor.authorThompson, David
dc.contributor.authorJanik, Vincent M.
dc.contributor.authorHammond, Philip S.
dc.contributor.authorScott-Hayward, Lindesay A. S.
dc.contributor.authorMatthiopoulos, Jason
dc.contributor.authorJones, Esther L.
dc.contributor.authorMcConnell, Bernie J.
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-23T10:30:06Z
dc.date.available2016-05-23T10:30:06Z
dc.date.issued2016-11-14
dc.identifier240770595
dc.identifiera6acff19-ee1a-46a1-b410-c9180af09f31
dc.identifier84971281231
dc.identifier000387768800002
dc.identifier.citationRussell , D J F , Hastie , G D , Thompson , D , Janik , V M , Hammond , P S , Scott-Hayward , L A S , Matthiopoulos , J , Jones , E L & McConnell , B J 2016 , ' Avoidance of wind farms by harbour seals is limited to pile driving activities ' , Journal of Applied Ecology , vol. 53 , no. 6 , pp. 1642-1652 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12678en
dc.identifier.issn0021-8901
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-2381-8302/work/47531640
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-1969-102X/work/49052059
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-4409-5860/work/30363086
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-9773-2755/work/54819197
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-7575-5270/work/56052209
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-1546-2876/work/56862188
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0001-7894-0121/work/60427849
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-3402-533X/work/73700888
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/8856
dc.descriptionDJFR, GH, VMJ and BM were funded by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of their Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme. DT and GH were also funded by NERC/Defra EBAO NE/J004243/1. ELJ was funded under Scottish Government grant MMSS001/01. This work was also supported by National Capability funding from the Natural Environment Research Council to SMRU (grant no. SMRU1001). Tags and their deployment in the Thames in 2006 and The Wash were funded by DECC. Tags and their deployment in the Thames in 2012 were commissioned by Zoological Society London, with funding from BBC Wildlife Fund and Sita Trust.en
dc.description.abstract1. As part of global efforts to reduce dependence on carbon-based energy sources there has been a rapid increase in the installation of renewable energy devices. The installation and operation of these devices can result in conflicts with wildlife. In the marine environment, mammals may avoid wind farms that are under construction or operating. Such avoidance may lead to more time spent travelling or displacement from key habitats. A paucity of data on at-sea movements of marine mammals around wind farms limits our understanding of the nature of their potential impacts. 2. Here, we present the results of a telemetry study on harbour seals Phoca vitulina in The Wash, south-east England, an area where wind farms are being constructed using impact pile driving. We investigated whether seals avoid wind farms during operation, construction in its entirety, or during piling activity. The study was carried out using historical telemetry data collected prior to any wind farm development and telemetry data collected in 2012 during the construction of one wind farm and the operation of another. 3. Within an operational wind farm, there was a close-to-significant increase in seal usage compared to prior to wind farm development. However, the wind farm was at the edge of a large area of increased usage, so the presence of the wind farm was unlikely to be the cause. 4. There was no significant displacement during construction as a whole. However, during piling, seal usage (abundance) was significantly reduced up to 25 km from the piling activity; within 25 km of the centre of the wind farm, there was a 19 to 83% (95% confidence intervals) decrease in usage compared to during breaks in piling, equating to a mean estimated displacement of 440 individuals. This amounts to significant displacement starting from predicted received levels of between 166 and 178 dB re 1 μPa(p·p). Displacement was limited to piling activity; within 2 h of cessation of pile driving, seals were distributed as per the non-piling scenario. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our spatial and temporal quantification of avoidance of wind farms by harbour seals is critical to reduce uncertainty and increase robustness in environmental impact assessments of future developments. Specifically, the results will allow policymakers to produce industry guidance on the likelihood of displacement of seals in response to pile driving; the relationship between sound levels and avoidance rates; and the duration of any avoidance, thus allowing far more accurate environmental assessments to be carried out during the consenting process. Further, our results can be used to inform mitigation strategies in terms of both the sound levels likely to cause displacement and what temporal patterns of piling would minimize the magnitude of the energetic impacts of displacement.
dc.format.extent11
dc.format.extent1122301
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Applied Ecologyen
dc.subjectComplex Region Spatial Smootheren
dc.subjectDisturbanceen
dc.subjectMarine renewablesen
dc.subjectMarine spatial planningen
dc.subjectPinnipedsen
dc.subjectRenewable energyen
dc.subjectSpatially Adaptive Local Smoothing Algorithmen
dc.subjectSpatially adaptive smoothingen
dc.subjectUnderwater noiseen
dc.subjectQH301 Biologyen
dc.subjectDASen
dc.subjectNERCen
dc.subjectBEIS/DECCen
dc.subjectScottish Governmenten
dc.subjectBDCen
dc.subjectR2Cen
dc.subjectSDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energyen
dc.subjectSDG 14 - Life Below Wateren
dc.subject.lccQH301en
dc.titleAvoidance of wind farms by harbour seals is limited to pile driving activitiesen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.contributor.sponsorNERCen
dc.contributor.sponsorNERCen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Biologyen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Uniten
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotlanden
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Instituteen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modellingen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciencesen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolutionen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Bioacoustics groupen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Statisticsen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Mathematics and Statisticsen
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/1365-2664.12678
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.identifier.grantnumberAgreement R8-H12-86en
dc.identifier.grantnumberNE/J004243/1en


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