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Wind turbines cause chronic stress in badgers (Meles meles) in Great Britain

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Agnew_WindTurbines_JWD_AAM.pdf (497.5Kb)
Date
07/2016
Author
Agnew, Roseanna
Smith, Valerie Jane
Fowkes, Robert
Keywords
Badgers
Cortisol
Hair
Stress
Wind turbine
Meles meles
GE Environmental Sciences
QH301 Biology
SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
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Abstract
A paucity of data exists with which to assess the effects of wind turbines noise on terrestrial wildlife, despite growing concern about the impact of infrasound from wind farms on human health and well-being. In 2013, we assessed whether the presence of turbines in Great Britain impacted the stress levels of badgers (Meles meles) in nearby setts. Hair cortisol levels were used to determine if the badgers were physiologically stressed. Hair of badgers living >1 km of a wind farm had a 264% higher cortisol level than badgers <10 km from a wind farm. This demonstrates that affected badgers suffer from enhanced hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal activity and are physiologically stressed. No differences were found between the cortisol levels of badgers living near wind farms operational since 2009 and 2012, indicating that the animals do not become habituated to turbine disturbance. Cortisol levels in the affected badgers did not vary in relation to the distance from turbines within 1 km, wind farm annual power output, or number of turbines. We suggest that the higher cortisol levels in affected badgers is caused by the turbines' sound and that these high levels may affect badgers' immune systems, which could result in increased risk of infection and disease in the badger population.
Citation
Agnew , R , Smith , V J & Fowkes , R 2016 , ' Wind turbines cause chronic stress in badgers ( Meles meles ) in Great Britain ' , Journal of Wildlife Diseases , vol. 52 , no. 3 , pp. 459-467 . https://doi.org/10.7589/2015-09-231
Publication
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7589/2015-09-231
ISSN
0090-3558
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2016, Wildlife Disease Association. This work is made available online by kind permission of the publisher. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at www.jwildlifedis.org / https://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2015-09-231
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9208

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