TY - JOUR
TI - Ecological Risk as a Tool for Evaluating the Effects of Offshore Wind Farm Construction in the North Sea
AU - Nunneri, C
AU - Lenhart, J
AU - Burkhard, B
AU - Windhorst, W
T2 - Regional Environmental Change
AB - Offshore wind power generation represents a chance to supply energy in a more sustainable way; however, the ecological risks associated with the construction and operation of offshore wind farms are still largely unknown. This paper uses the concept of ecological risk for analyzing ecological changes during construction of offshore wind farms. 'Ecological risk' is defined as the potentially reduced ability of providing ecosystem services. The ERSEM ecosystem model allows assessing ecological risk based on a number of selected variables (integrity indicators) and under the assumption that increased suspended matter concentration during construction of wind farms affects ecosystem functioning. We conclude that ecological risk is adequate to describe the effects of wind farm constructions, although the computation procedure still needs to be refined and the choice of indicators further optimized. In this context, the choice of indicators available in modeling as well as in monitoring time-series may offer the way forward.
DA - 2008/02//
PY - 2008
VL - 8
IS - 1
SP - 31
EP - 43
UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10113-008-0045-9
DO - 10.1007/s10113-008-0045-9
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Habitat Change
KW - Ecosystem Processes
KW - Physical Environment
KW - Water Quality
ER -