What is the impact of solar panels on the biodiversity of deserts?
The desire to reduce carbon dioxide emissions pushes countries to invest in the production of renewable energy, in particular through the development of photovoltaic panels in desert regions, wrongly considered to be sterile.Do these large-scale installations have consequences on the biodiversity of the desert?
In the race against climate change and with the massive and rapid development of renewable energies, a study - published in the journal Ecological Applications, of the University of California, in Davis, and the UC Santa Cruz - was interestedClose to any impacts, linked to the installation of solar panels, on plants adapted to the desert.
Indeed, solar energy, as an inexhaustible source, is a viable solution for the future energy of our planet but the development of solar panel installations is not always without consequences...He is notably responsible for new runoff and shade conditions.
The researchers then analyzed the Mojave desert, a desert extent of around 40,000 km², located in the west of the United States, in southern California, but also in the neighboring states of Nevada and theArizona.
For example, operators in the largest solar power plant - Ivanpah -, installed in the Mojave desert, are currently spending around $ 45 million on the recovery of desert turtles because the data from endangered species have been completely under-Istimed before its construction.
"Our study suggests that green energy and species' conservation objectives can conflict in the Mojave desert in California, which houses nearly 500 rare plant species as well as an expanding solar industry," said the'Principal author Karen Tanner, who carried out work as a doctoral student at UC Santa Cruz as part of a scholarship led by Rebecca R.Hernandez, assistant professor of UC Davis.
Rare species are more sensitive to solar panels
Through this study, the researchers used experimental solar panels, in the Mojave desert, to test the impacts of these changes on the dynamics of the population concerning two annual and native plants of the desert, closely linked: the rare laine sunflowerBarstow - Eriophyllum Mohavense -And La Marguerite wool commune of Wallace - Eriophyllum Wallacei -.
For this, the team of scientists estimated the above -ground demographic rates - emergence of sowing, survival and fertility - over a period of seven years, while also using the survival rates of the seed banks of a simultaneous study in orderto build matrix growth models in three experimental micro-habitats.
The main objective is to compare the performance of these plants both outdoors but also under experimental solar panels, answering the following questions: how do plants adapted to the desert react to the panels blocking light and rain?Do rare species react differently, to these changes, than common species?
Due to rather delicate logistical and mathematical challenges, to model little -known species interactions within the desert, no other previous study has carried out such modeling.
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Consequently, this study revealed that the weather conditions and the physical characteristics of the landscape have a strong influence on the effects of solar panels on plants.Indeed, for example, during the super flowering of 2017, the shadow of the panel had a real negative impact on the growth of the population of the rare species (Eriophyllum Mohavense), but it had very little effectOn his common parent (Eriophyllum wallacei).
The rare species would then be more sensitive to the negative effects of the solar panel infrastructure during the rainy years which are essential for the reconstruction of the seed reserves, compared to common species.According to the results observed, the effects of solar panels could then vary depending on the species, space and time...
"The desert - and many other biomes - do not meet our time scales," assured Rebecca Hernandez, co -director of the Wild Energy Initiative through UC Davis John Muir Institute."If we want to understand them, we must study them on operating times.Otherwise, it's like taking a photo of a moving train and calling it a container carrier.Hurry to build renewable energies installations in places that have already been stripped of the lifetime makes sense - do not wait to put solar energy on existing roofs.But in natural environments, we must first listen and observe, "he concluded.
In other words, let's take advantage of existing roofs whose area is largely sufficient to cover our electricity needs, rather than encroach in natural areas wrongly considered to be sterile.
Conservation of rare species and development of green energies
The situation is particularly complex and paradoxical...The so -called "green" energies develop at high speed in order to reduce our impact on the environment.However, according to the conclusions of the study, the installation of solar panels, on a large scale, could have negative consequences on the rare species of the desert.
This is why, as researchers explain, it is necessary to reconcile the conservation objectives of rare species and those of green energies.They then highlighted the various dangers that could hinder the effective management of rare plant populations in the southwest desert.
Surveys intended to reveal if rare plants are present, on the proposed development sites, must take place under environmental conditions likely to stimulate the activity of dormant individuals.Indeed, when precipitation, during a critical period for the emergence of plants, are low, the chances of detecting rare taxa - an entity bringing together all living organisms with common certain well -defined characteristics - can fall to zero.For example, in 2012, researchers had found a single individual of E.Mohavense against thousands of plants observed the previous year.
However, species with a biological cycle strategy and a shared evolving history can react differently to the changes imposed by the solar infrastructure.Physical and climatic differences between sites can interact to influence this response.
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Lucy.T / Sine Limes
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What is the impact of solar panels on the biodiversity of deserts?;08/06/2021 - www.our planet.info