Short-term ecological effects of an offshore wind farm in the Dutch coastal zone; a compilation

By H. Lindeboom, H. J. Kouwenhoven, M.J.N. Bergman, Soren Bouma, Sophie Brasseur, R. Daan, R. Fijn, D. Haan, S. Dirksen, R. Hal and 5 more. 2011

304 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The number of offshore wind farms is increasing rapidly, leading to questions about the environmental impact of such farms. In the Netherlands, an extensive monitoring programme is being executed at the first offshore wind farm (Offshore Windfarm Egmond aan Zee, OWEZ). This letter compiles the short-term (two years) results on a large number of faunal groups obtained so far. Impacts were expected from the new hard substratum, the moving rotor blades, possible underwater noise and the exclusion of fisheries. The results indicate no short-term effects on the benthos in the sandy area between the generators, while the new hard substratum of the monopiles and the scouring protection led to the establishment of new species and new fauna communities. Bivalve recruitment was not impacted by the OWEZ wind farm. Species composition of recruits in OWEZ and the surrounding reference areas is correlated with mud content of the sediment and water depth irrespective the presence of OWEZ. Recruit abundances in OWEZ were correlated with mud content, most likely to be attributed not to the presence of the farm but to the absence of fisheries. The fish community was highly dynamic both in time and space. So far, only minor effects upon fish assemblages especially near the monopiles have been observed. Some fish species, such as cod, seem to find shelter inside the farm. More porpoise clicks were recorded inside the farm than in the reference areas outside the farm. Several bird species seem to avoid the park while others are indifferent or are even attracted. The effects of the wind farm on a highly variable ecosystem are described. Overall, the OWEZ wind farm acts as a new type of habitat with a higher biodiversity of benthic organisms, a possibly increased use of the area by the benthos, fish, marine mammals and some bird species and a decreased use by several other bird species.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3d12f66ee8ca650d1a04b82bad48a0decd0d1f48

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In Global and Planetary Change

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

In Oceanography

Citations in the corpus

Renewable energy and biodiversity: Implications for transitioning to a Green Economy (2017, background): “Nevertheless, and despite some differences amongst species, for the most part seabirds seem to be relatively unhindered by the presence of offshore wind farms [355], with the overall effects on bird population being negligible [356,360,361].”
Long-term effects of an offshore wind farm in the North Sea on fish communities (2015, background): “Cod are generally caught at higher densities on rough bottoms compared to smooth (Wieland et al. 2009) and it has previously been shown that cod are attracted by shelter and feeding opportunities inside OWFs (Lindeboom et al. 2011, Reubens et al. 2013b).”
Environmental impact of wind energy (2013, background): “In the southern North Sea the effects of the first Dutch offshore wind farm, OWEZ, with 36 monopiles, were studied intensively from the bottom fauna (benthos) to the marine mammals before and after the construction (Lindeboom et al 2011).”
Projecting changes in the distribution and productivity of living marine resources: A critical review of the suite of modelling approaches used in the large European project VECTORS (2016, background): “…aggregate extraction, windfarm construction, artificial reefs, aquaculture of finfish and shellfish) cause direct physical alteration of bottom habitats with deleterious (or beneficial) short- and potentially long-term consequences for resident biota (Lindeboom et al., 2011 and Canu et al., 2010).”
The large-scale impact of offshore wind farm structures on pelagic primary productivity in the southern North Sea (2017, background): “Speciﬁcally, they increase the biomass and distribution of ﬁlter feeders (Krone 2012; Lindeboom et al 2011), because OWFs provide the hard substrate needed for colonisation by a variety of epistructural species.”