Standardised and referenced acoustic monitoring reliably estimates bat fatalities at wind turbines: Comments on ‘Limitations of acoustic monitoring at wind turbines to evaluate fatality risk of bats’

Behr, Oliver; Barré, Kévin; Bontadina, Fabio; Brinkmann, Robert; Dietz, Markus; Disca, Thierry; Froidevaux, Jérémy S.P.; Ghanem, Simon; Huemer, Senta; Hurst, Johanna; Kaminsky, Stefan K.; Kelm, Volker; Korner-Nievergelt, Fränzi; Lauper, Mirco; Lintott, Paul; Newman, Christian; Peterson, Trevor; Proksch, Jasmin; Roemer, Charlotte; Schorcht, Wigbert; Nagy, Martina

Abstract

Voigt et al. (2021) provide a thorough analysis of the restrictions inherent to the estimation of bat abundance from acoustic surveys, and conclude that limitations of acoustic monitoring impede the reliable evaluation of bat fatalities at wind turbines. We argue that acoustic data recorded at the nacelle of wind turbines have been experimentally validated as a useful and appropriate measure of bat collisions. Therefore, acoustic data can be used to estimate bat fatalities at wind turbines, provided a referenced and standardised protocol for data acquisition and analysis is used.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Feb 12, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 13, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 17, 2023
• Journal: Mammal Review
• Print ISSN: 0305-1838
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2907
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 65-71
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12310
• Keywords: Acoustic monitoring; bats; collision; curtailment; mitigation; mortality; wind turbine
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10460595
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mam.12310