Power lines impact biodiversity in at least 28 different ways
Written By Larissa Donida Biasotto and Andreas Kindel
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
18th January, 2021
Why is it important to identify the environmental impacts of power lines?
A good understanding of the potential environmental impacts of a linear infrastructure project (transportation of people, goods or energy) is essential when planning, designing and approving projects. Unfortunately, most projects are assessed without a comprehensive review of all potential impacts and without knowing how they are interconnected.
Our aim in this study was to review the impacts of powerlines on biodiversity in order to promote and support the improvement of impact assessment in its early stages.
Identifying the impacts of overhead powerlines on biodiversity
We systematically searched for and reviewed 206 scientific articles and a diverse grey literature from around the world to identify the key impacts of constructing and operating power lines on biodiversity. We synthesized these impacts and arranged them into a framework that spanned the planning, design, construction and operation continuum and the different ecological levels at which impacts occur. We summarized our findings according to this sequence: “Action 🡪 Abiotic impact 🡪 Biotic impact”. We defined “Action” as the activity of the project that induces changes on the environment and “abiotic impact” as the alteration of the physical or chemical environment. “Biotic impact” describes the biotic consequences resulting from these alterations, and we distinguished responses at the individual, population, and community levels.
The impacts of powerlines are more diverse than expected!
Fig 1. A) Brazilian howler monkeys electrocuted while using overhead distribution wires to displacement – Photo: João Cláudio Godoy; B) Shiny Cowbird stuck in an anchoring structure of wire on an energy pole - Photo: Glayson A. Bencke; C) White-tailed Hawk perching on poles with bird nests – Photo: Glayson A. Bencke; D) The white-eared opossum electrocuted on powerlines with wires vertically arranged – Photo: Débora Glienke.
We identified 28 different biotic impacts resulting from the 15 abiotic impacts.
Overall, the ecological impacts of power lines have been investigated for a wide variety of organisms, including plants, invertebrates and a wide range of vertebrates, with most research focusing on birds. A clear knowledge gap is about powerline effects on tropical habitats, for example, corridor and edge effects of right-of-way and access roads on illegal deforestation, poaching, and species invasions.
The impacts of powerlines on biodiversity occur mainly during the operation phase, and they are diverse and interconnected, and sometimes difficult to quantify and predict. For example, a negative impact on predators may result in a positive impact on prey species at distances far from the powerline. Similarly, some species may benefit from using powerline structures for perching, however they must frequently face the risk of colliding with overhead wires or electrocution. Therefore, our biotic impact list is not exhaustive and can be expanded because of the many possible chains of interactions between the abiotic and biotic impacts.
Recommendations to improve the impact assessment of powerline projects
We recognize that not all impacts happen to the same extent and intensity in different environmental contexts. We know that population and community structural and functional effects are detected later in time when compared to individual response variables. The selection of the ecological impacts and indicators to be measured should thus be dependent on the decisions to be taken in different project phases.
Our framework can be used as an initial checklist and should boost some best-practices, including:
Improvement of the scoping phase by promoting a priori recognition of the range of potential ecological impacts from power lines in the project planning phase.
Guidance for the selection of proper target species or groups and indicators to be assessed at each project phase.
See the article to read about main findings for each ecological impact!
Author information:
Larissa Donida Biasotto, Biologist, PhD student in Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Email: larissabiasotto@hotmail.com
Andreas Kindel, Professor in Ecology Department, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Email: andreaskindel@gmail.com
Source:
Biasotto, L.D.; Kindel, A. 2018. Power lines and impacts on biodiversity: A systematic review. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 71, 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2018.04.010
Article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195925517304432
Editor:
Rodney van der Ree
Cite this summary:
Biasotto & Kindel, 2021. Power lines impact biodiversity in at least 28 different ways.. Edited by van der Ree, R. TransportEcology.info, Accessed at: https://transportecology.info/research/power-lines-impact-biodiversity-28-ways [Date accessed].