Abstract
The impacts of offshore wind farms (OWFs) on seabirds are typically divided into three forms: collision mortality, barrier impacts and displacement impacts. This report investigates the validity of assumptions underlying a recently suggested approach, defined as the ′Displacement as Habitat Loss′ approach. This approach interprets displacement impacts as a time restricted, quasi-permanent habitat loss rather than a year-on-year effect across the entire operational lifetime of an OWF. It proposes that after displacement impacts have been exerted on a population, a new, stable population equilibrium is reached at some level below the initial starting population. By examining the assumptions underlying this approach and outlining ways of translating it into a staged assessment framework, this report provides an analysis of the pros and cons of the ′Displacement as Habitat Loss′ approach.