Aliens in wind farmsPreventing and monitoring impacts on vegetation

Isabel Passos, Maria João Silva, Sílvia Mesquita, Ana Teresa Marques, Joana Bernardino, Hugo

Costa & Miguel Mascarenhas

Presentation topics

• Introduction

– Wind farms Impacts on vegetation

• Alien Invasive Species

– What are they?

– Impacts on biodiversity

• Preventing and monitoring

• Case study

– Serra da Lousã wind farm & Pampilhosa da Serra wind farm

• Conclusions

Introduction

• Wind farms impacts on vegetation

Potential negative impacts on Flora and vegetation

• Destruction of important habitats

• Destruction of important rare plant species

•• Proliferation of invasive alien plant Proliferation of invasive alien plant

speciesspecies

Poorly assessed

(Silva et al., 2011)

Alien Invasive Species

• What are they?

• How many

– Europe: 80 invasive plant species (DAISIE, 2009)

– Portugal: 40 invasive plant species (Marchante et al, 2008)

• Acacia dealbata

• Acacia melanoxylon

• Acacia longifolia

• Hakea sericea

Invasive Plant Species

• Settle in nature

• Manage to reproduce by themselves

• Acquire aggressive behavior

• Establish themselves away from the

initial introduction site

Alien Invasive Species

• Impacts on biodiversity

– Biodiversity loss;

– Landscape uniformization;

– Alteration of biogeochemical cycles;

– Change in soil composition;

– Modification of fire regime.

Alien Invasive Species

• What triggers them?

– Climate change;

– Major storms;

– Fire occurrence;

– Human disturbances.

(Lorenzo, 2010)

Preventing and monitoring

• Before

– Which species?

• Different dispersal methods

• Different reaction to control measures

– Where exactly are they?

• Problematic places

• Dispersal sites

Planning future actions

• During

– Specific mitigation measures

• Correct disposal of plant debris

• Prevent seeds dispersal through the

delimitation of areas

Preventing and monitoring

Preventing and monitoring

• After

– Recovery plans

• Using soil from non invaded

• Using only native plants

– Monitoring plans

• Which species?

• How many?

• Where?

Control plan needed or not?

Case study

• Serra da Lousã Wind Farm

– Project area - Acacia dealbata and Acacia melanoxylon

– Monitoring program

• Cores – marked with GPS

• Number of individuals per core

• GIS project

2005 2006 2007, 2008 and 2009

ConstructionPre -

ConstructionPost -

Construction

Case study

• Serra da Lousã Wind Farm

Post -Construction

2007, 2008 and 2009

Increased number of cores and individuals

Control and Eradication Plan

2012

2007 20092008

Case study

• Serra da Lousã Wind Farm

Control and Eradication Plan

2012 20??

Control and Eradication Plan

• Seedlings – pull out

• Adults – cut and chemical control

– peel

Combining different control methods

Monitoring program

Case study

• Pampilhosa da Serra Wind Farm

– Project area – no invasive plant species

– Construction in 2009

– Monitoring program

• Vegetation recovery

• Invasive species

2009

Construction

Case study

• Pampilhosa da Serra Wind Farm

– Monitoring program (Vegetation recovery)

• Two years after construction (2011)

Acacia dealbata cores

Immediate action

Control Plan

2009 2011

Construction Post - Construction

Case study

• Pampilhosa da Serra Wind Farm

Control Plan Alien species cartography

2012

Control plan

Which species

How many cores/individuals

Age (adults or seedlings)

Acacia dealbata

19 cores

2 adult individuals

Case study

• Pampilhosa da Serra Wind Farm

Control Plan• Seedlings – pull out

• Adults – cut and chemical control

– peel

Combining different control methods

Monitoring program

2013 20??

Control plan

Conclusions

• Proper assessment

– Which species

– Potentially problematic situations

• Monitoring programs

– Early detection

– Evolution of the invasion

• Control plans (if necessary)

�Advance planning

�Site-specific mitigation/control

measures

�Proliferation containment

�Higher success rates

�Lower control costs

Thank you!

Acknowledgements: