Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 763–776 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Insect Conservation |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 5 Jun 2024 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2024 |
Abstract
Keywords
- biodiversity, insects, ground beetles, renewable energies, utility-scale solar energy, photovoltaic power plants, Insects, Photovoltaic power plants, Utility-scale solar energy, Ground beetles, Renewable energies, Biodiversity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Insect Science
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Environmental Science(all)
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Journal of Insect Conservation, Vol. 28, No. 4, 08.2024, p. 763–776.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Carabid beetles in solar parks
T2 - assemblages under solar panels are severely impoverished compared to gaps between panel rows and edge areas
AU - Zitzmann, Felix
AU - Stern, Michael
AU - Schmidt, Magdalena
AU - Schirmel, Jens
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/8
Y1 - 2024/8
N2 - Renewable energies are a major tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. Among renewables, solar parks are a key technology and their expansion will strongly increase in the future. Hence, there is a great need for research regarding their impact on biodiversity. In this study, we investigated the importance of three solar parks in northern Germany as habitat for carabid beetles. More specifically, we determined how habitat characteristics (temperature, vegetation structure), species richness, activity densities and carabid beetle assemblages vary between different locations within solar parks: areas under solar panels “UNDR”, gaps between panel rows “BTW” and areas at the edge of solar parks “EDGE”. We found that UNDR strongly differed from BTW/EDGE in terms of habitat conditions, species richness and activity densities of carabid beetles. UNDR mainly provided habitat for a species- and individual-poor subset of species already present in BTW/EDGE and made only a small contribution to the total species richness of the investigated solar parks. BTW and EDGE, on the other hand, differed only slightly. Thus, the narrow gaps between the panel rows were of similar importance as a habitat for carabid beetles as the edge areas. Overall, the investigated solar parks – and thus also the more species-rich areas EDGE and BTW – almost exclusively provided habitat for widespread and common non-threatened generalists, while species of conservation concern were extremely rare. Implications for insect conservation: The low importance of UNDR for carabid beetles should be considered when assessing the biodiversity value of solar parks, since a large proportion of these facilities is covered with solar panels. Between panel rows and at the edge of solar parks, larger areas should be kept free from construction with solar panels in order to provide habitats for carabid beetles and other species groups. More research should be conducted on how to further improve solar parks for carabid beetles and overall biodiversity.
AB - Renewable energies are a major tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. Among renewables, solar parks are a key technology and their expansion will strongly increase in the future. Hence, there is a great need for research regarding their impact on biodiversity. In this study, we investigated the importance of three solar parks in northern Germany as habitat for carabid beetles. More specifically, we determined how habitat characteristics (temperature, vegetation structure), species richness, activity densities and carabid beetle assemblages vary between different locations within solar parks: areas under solar panels “UNDR”, gaps between panel rows “BTW” and areas at the edge of solar parks “EDGE”. We found that UNDR strongly differed from BTW/EDGE in terms of habitat conditions, species richness and activity densities of carabid beetles. UNDR mainly provided habitat for a species- and individual-poor subset of species already present in BTW/EDGE and made only a small contribution to the total species richness of the investigated solar parks. BTW and EDGE, on the other hand, differed only slightly. Thus, the narrow gaps between the panel rows were of similar importance as a habitat for carabid beetles as the edge areas. Overall, the investigated solar parks – and thus also the more species-rich areas EDGE and BTW – almost exclusively provided habitat for widespread and common non-threatened generalists, while species of conservation concern were extremely rare. Implications for insect conservation: The low importance of UNDR for carabid beetles should be considered when assessing the biodiversity value of solar parks, since a large proportion of these facilities is covered with solar panels. Between panel rows and at the edge of solar parks, larger areas should be kept free from construction with solar panels in order to provide habitats for carabid beetles and other species groups. More research should be conducted on how to further improve solar parks for carabid beetles and overall biodiversity.
KW - biodiversity
KW - insects
KW - ground beetles
KW - renewable energies
KW - utility-scale solar energy
KW - photovoltaic power plants
KW - Insects
KW - Photovoltaic power plants
KW - Utility-scale solar energy
KW - Ground beetles
KW - Renewable energies
KW - Biodiversity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195257437&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10841-024-00597-w
DO - 10.1007/s10841-024-00597-w
M3 - Article
VL - 28
SP - 763
EP - 776
JO - Journal of Insect Conservation
JF - Journal of Insect Conservation
SN - 1366-638X
IS - 4
ER -