Comparing nekton distributions at two tidal energy sites suggests potential for generic environmental monitoring

Lauren E. Wiesebron; John K. Horne; Beth E. Scott; Benjamin J. Williamson

doi:10.1016/j.ijome.2016.07.004

Comparing nekton distributions at two tidal energy sites suggests potential for generic environmental monitoring

Lauren E. Wiesebron, John K. Horne, Beth E. Scott, Benjamin J. Williamson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Tidal energy is a renewable resource that can contribute towards meeting growing energy demands, but uncertainties remain about environmental impacts of device installation and operation. Environmental monitoring programs are used to detect and evaluate impacts caused by anthropogenic disturbances and are a mandatory requirement of project operating licenses in the United States. In the United Kingdom, consent conditions require monitoring of any adverse impacts on species of concern. While tidal turbine sites share similar physical characteristics (e.g. strong tidal flows), similarities in their biological characteristics have not been examined. To characterize the generality of biological attributes at tidal energy sites, metrics derived from acoustic backscatter describing temporal and spatial distributions of fish and macrozooplankton at Admiralty Inlet, Washington State and the Fall of Warness, Scotland were compared using t-tests, F-tests, linear regressions, spectral analysis, and extreme value analysis (EVA). EVA was used to characterize
metric values that are rare but potentially associated with biological impacts, defined as relevant change as a consequence of human activity. Pelagic nekton densities were similar at both sites, as evidenced by no statistically significant difference in densities, and similar daily density patterns of pelagic nekton between sites. Biological characteristics were similar, suggesting that generic biological monitoring programs could be implemented at these two sites, which would streamline permitting, facilitate site comparison, and enable
environmental impact detection associated with tidal energy deployment.
© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	235-249
Number of pages	15
Journal	International Journal of Marine Energy
Volume	16
Early online date	16 Jul 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijome.2016.07.004
Publication status	Published - Dec 2016

Bibliographical note

We would like to thank Dale Jacques for processing and data management of the Admiralty Inlet data, Philippe Blondel, Paul Bell, Eric Armstrong, Chris Hall and colleagues at Marine Scotland Science for assistance with development of the FLOWBEC platform, and Shaun Fraser for processing FLOWBEC ADV data. Funding was provided by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the National Science Foundation’s Sustainable Energy Pathways Program. The FLOWBEC-4D project was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Defra grants NE/J004308/1, NE/J004200/1 and NE/J004332/1. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the manuscript.

Keywords

biological monitoring
pelagic nekton
marine renewable energy
hydroacoutiscs

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.ijome.2016.07.004Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Comparing nekton distributions at two tidal energy sites suggests potential for generic environmental monitoring",

abstract = "Tidal energy is a renewable resource that can contribute towards meeting growing energy demands, but uncertainties remain about environmental impacts of device installation and operation. Environmental monitoring programs are used to detect and evaluate impacts caused by anthropogenic disturbances and are a mandatory requirement of project operating licenses in the United States. In the United Kingdom, consent conditions require monitoring of any adverse impacts on species of concern. While tidal turbine sites share similar physical characteristics (e.g. strong tidal flows), similarities in their biological characteristics have not been examined. To characterize the generality of biological attributes at tidal energy sites, metrics derived from acoustic backscatter describing temporal and spatial distributions of fish and macrozooplankton at Admiralty Inlet, Washington State and the Fall of Warness, Scotland were compared using t-tests, F-tests, linear regressions, spectral analysis, and extreme value analysis (EVA). EVA was used to characterizemetric values that are rare but potentially associated with biological impacts, defined as relevant change as a consequence of human activity. Pelagic nekton densities were similar at both sites, as evidenced by no statistically significant difference in densities, and similar daily density patterns of pelagic nekton between sites. Biological characteristics were similar, suggesting that generic biological monitoring programs could be implemented at these two sites, which would streamline permitting, facilitate site comparison, and enableenvironmental impact detection associated with tidal energy deployment.{\textcopyright} 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.",

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author = "Wiesebron, {Lauren E.} and Horne, {John K.} and Scott, {Beth E.} and Williamson, {Benjamin J.}",

note = "We would like to thank Dale Jacques for processing and data management of the Admiralty Inlet data, Philippe Blondel, Paul Bell, Eric Armstrong, Chris Hall and colleagues at Marine Scotland Science for assistance with development of the FLOWBEC platform, and Shaun Fraser for processing FLOWBEC ADV data. Funding was provided by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the National Science Foundation{\textquoteright}s Sustainable Energy Pathways Program. The FLOWBEC-4D project was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Defra grants NE/J004308/1, NE/J004200/1 and NE/J004332/1. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the manuscript.",

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AU - Wiesebron, Lauren E.

AU - Horne, John K.

AU - Scott, Beth E.

AU - Williamson, Benjamin J.

N1 - We would like to thank Dale Jacques for processing and data management of the Admiralty Inlet data, Philippe Blondel, Paul Bell, Eric Armstrong, Chris Hall and colleagues at Marine Scotland Science for assistance with development of the FLOWBEC platform, and Shaun Fraser for processing FLOWBEC ADV data. Funding was provided by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the National Science Foundation’s Sustainable Energy Pathways Program. The FLOWBEC-4D project was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Defra grants NE/J004308/1, NE/J004200/1 and NE/J004332/1. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the manuscript.

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N2 - Tidal energy is a renewable resource that can contribute towards meeting growing energy demands, but uncertainties remain about environmental impacts of device installation and operation. Environmental monitoring programs are used to detect and evaluate impacts caused by anthropogenic disturbances and are a mandatory requirement of project operating licenses in the United States. In the United Kingdom, consent conditions require monitoring of any adverse impacts on species of concern. While tidal turbine sites share similar physical characteristics (e.g. strong tidal flows), similarities in their biological characteristics have not been examined. To characterize the generality of biological attributes at tidal energy sites, metrics derived from acoustic backscatter describing temporal and spatial distributions of fish and macrozooplankton at Admiralty Inlet, Washington State and the Fall of Warness, Scotland were compared using t-tests, F-tests, linear regressions, spectral analysis, and extreme value analysis (EVA). EVA was used to characterizemetric values that are rare but potentially associated with biological impacts, defined as relevant change as a consequence of human activity. Pelagic nekton densities were similar at both sites, as evidenced by no statistically significant difference in densities, and similar daily density patterns of pelagic nekton between sites. Biological characteristics were similar, suggesting that generic biological monitoring programs could be implemented at these two sites, which would streamline permitting, facilitate site comparison, and enableenvironmental impact detection associated with tidal energy deployment.© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

AB - Tidal energy is a renewable resource that can contribute towards meeting growing energy demands, but uncertainties remain about environmental impacts of device installation and operation. Environmental monitoring programs are used to detect and evaluate impacts caused by anthropogenic disturbances and are a mandatory requirement of project operating licenses in the United States. In the United Kingdom, consent conditions require monitoring of any adverse impacts on species of concern. While tidal turbine sites share similar physical characteristics (e.g. strong tidal flows), similarities in their biological characteristics have not been examined. To characterize the generality of biological attributes at tidal energy sites, metrics derived from acoustic backscatter describing temporal and spatial distributions of fish and macrozooplankton at Admiralty Inlet, Washington State and the Fall of Warness, Scotland were compared using t-tests, F-tests, linear regressions, spectral analysis, and extreme value analysis (EVA). EVA was used to characterizemetric values that are rare but potentially associated with biological impacts, defined as relevant change as a consequence of human activity. Pelagic nekton densities were similar at both sites, as evidenced by no statistically significant difference in densities, and similar daily density patterns of pelagic nekton between sites. Biological characteristics were similar, suggesting that generic biological monitoring programs could be implemented at these two sites, which would streamline permitting, facilitate site comparison, and enableenvironmental impact detection associated with tidal energy deployment.© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

KW - biological monitoring

KW - pelagic nekton

KW - marine renewable energy

KW - hydroacoutiscs

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijome.2016.07.004

DO - 10.1016/j.ijome.2016.07.004

M3 - Article

SN - 2214-1669

VL - 16

SP - 235

EP - 249

JO - International Journal of Marine Energy

JF - International Journal of Marine Energy

ER -

Comparing nekton distributions at two tidal energy sites suggests potential for generic environmental monitoring

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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