Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population

Paul M. Thompson; Gordon D. Hastie; Jeremy Nedwell; Richard Barham; Kate L. Brookes; Line S. Cordes; Helen Bailey; Nancy McLean

doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2013.06.005

Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population

Paul M. Thompson^*, Gordon D. Hastie, Jeremy Nedwell, Richard Barham, Kate L. Brookes, Line S. Cordes, Helen Bailey, Nancy McLean

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

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Abstract

Offshore wind farm developments may impact protected marine mammal populations, requiring appropriate assessment under the EU Habitats Directive. We describe a framework developed to assess population level impacts of disturbance from piling noise on a protected harbour seal population in the vicinity of proposed wind farm developments in NE Scotland. Spatial patterns of seal distribution and received noise levels are integrated with available data on the potential impacts of noise to predict how many individuals are displaced or experience auditory injury. Expert judgement is used to link these impacts to changes in vital rates and applied to population models that compare population changes under baseline and construction scenarios over a 25. year period. We use published data and hypothetical piling scenarios to illustrate how the assessment framework has been used to support environmental assessments, explore the sensitivity of the framework to key assumptions, and discuss its potential application to other populations of marine mammals.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	73-85
Number of pages	13
Journal	Environmental impact assessment review
Volume	43
Early online date	29 Jun 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2013.06.005
Publication status	Published - Nov 2013

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd. and Beatrice Offshore Wind Ltd. as part of their consent application. We thank all the colleagues from academic, regulatory and industrial organisations who contributed to the discussion and workshops that shaped this framework.

Keywords

Appropriate assessment
Disturbance
EU habitats directive
Marine mammal
Offshore wind farm
Population consequences

UN SDGs

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

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10.1016/j.eiar.2013.06.005Licence: CC BY

Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population
© 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. Open access under CC BY license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Final published version, 1.1 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population",

abstract = "Offshore wind farm developments may impact protected marine mammal populations, requiring appropriate assessment under the EU Habitats Directive. We describe a framework developed to assess population level impacts of disturbance from piling noise on a protected harbour seal population in the vicinity of proposed wind farm developments in NE Scotland. Spatial patterns of seal distribution and received noise levels are integrated with available data on the potential impacts of noise to predict how many individuals are displaced or experience auditory injury. Expert judgement is used to link these impacts to changes in vital rates and applied to population models that compare population changes under baseline and construction scenarios over a 25. year period. We use published data and hypothetical piling scenarios to illustrate how the assessment framework has been used to support environmental assessments, explore the sensitivity of the framework to key assumptions, and discuss its potential application to other populations of marine mammals.",

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author = "Thompson, {Paul M.} and Hastie, {Gordon D.} and Jeremy Nedwell and Richard Barham and Brookes, {Kate L.} and Cordes, {Line S.} and Helen Bailey and Nancy McLean",

note = "Acknowledgements This work was supported by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd. and Beatrice Offshore Wind Ltd. as part of their consent application. We thank all the colleagues from academic, regulatory and industrial organisations who contributed to the discussion and workshops that shaped this framework.",

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AU - Brookes, Kate L.

AU - Cordes, Line S.

AU - Bailey, Helen

AU - McLean, Nancy

N1 - Acknowledgements This work was supported by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd. and Beatrice Offshore Wind Ltd. as part of their consent application. We thank all the colleagues from academic, regulatory and industrial organisations who contributed to the discussion and workshops that shaped this framework.

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Y1 - 2013/11

N2 - Offshore wind farm developments may impact protected marine mammal populations, requiring appropriate assessment under the EU Habitats Directive. We describe a framework developed to assess population level impacts of disturbance from piling noise on a protected harbour seal population in the vicinity of proposed wind farm developments in NE Scotland. Spatial patterns of seal distribution and received noise levels are integrated with available data on the potential impacts of noise to predict how many individuals are displaced or experience auditory injury. Expert judgement is used to link these impacts to changes in vital rates and applied to population models that compare population changes under baseline and construction scenarios over a 25. year period. We use published data and hypothetical piling scenarios to illustrate how the assessment framework has been used to support environmental assessments, explore the sensitivity of the framework to key assumptions, and discuss its potential application to other populations of marine mammals.

AB - Offshore wind farm developments may impact protected marine mammal populations, requiring appropriate assessment under the EU Habitats Directive. We describe a framework developed to assess population level impacts of disturbance from piling noise on a protected harbour seal population in the vicinity of proposed wind farm developments in NE Scotland. Spatial patterns of seal distribution and received noise levels are integrated with available data on the potential impacts of noise to predict how many individuals are displaced or experience auditory injury. Expert judgement is used to link these impacts to changes in vital rates and applied to population models that compare population changes under baseline and construction scenarios over a 25. year period. We use published data and hypothetical piling scenarios to illustrate how the assessment framework has been used to support environmental assessments, explore the sensitivity of the framework to key assumptions, and discuss its potential application to other populations of marine mammals.

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Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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