Photovoltaic solar plants in the countryside: how to convert habitat loss into landscape heterogeneity

Previously, scientists published brief notes to communicate the results of studies. The Journal of Brief Ideas (https://beta.briefideas.org/) offers that space, up to 200 words, to present ideas and take advantage of intellectual capital that is often lost due to lack of time or money to develop it as research. In addition, it is also a forum to promote debate and for other authors to criticize the idea.

This note is about how to integrate renewable energy into agroecosystems and, in particular, to explore the environmental opportunities of photovoltaic solar plants (PSF) in a scenario of land use change such as the intensification of agriculture.

A story in three acts:

First: the context. The intensification of agriculture is the cause of the decline of agrosteppe birds (Donald ampersand Al. 2001; Rigal ampersand Al. 2023), which rely on semi-natural vegetation (fallow areas and plot borders) to feed and nest in the countryside. In fact, the relationship between fallow loss and the decline of agrosteppe birds is direct (Traba & Morales 2019).

Second: the conflict. Fields with low agricultural performance but high ecological value are the habitat of agrosteppe birds but also, due to the lower price of land, the area where photovoltaic solar energy is implanted (Serrano ampersand Al. 2020). The impact of PSF is, therefore, habitat loss: about 2 ha per MWp of power.

Third: the opportunity. The vegetation cover under the solar panels. Manage the PSF as an environmental fallow so that it functions as a source of seeds and invertebrates, which are dispersed along the edges of plots (effect Spillover: Blitzer ampersand Al. 2012). That is: large patches (fallow areas of more than 10 ha) that interact with linear corridors (plot borders of at least 1.5 m wide) and spread trophic resources for agrosteppe birds in the agricultural landscape for a long time (the useful life of a photovoltaic solar plant is 30 years). Treating photovoltaic solar plants as environmental fallow converts habitat loss into landscape heterogeneity. And, therefore, these farts, without pesticides, would mitigate the negative effect of intensive agriculture on agro-steppe birds.

And how can we demonstrate this positive effect of photovoltaic solar plants for agrosteppe birds in the countryside? By experimentation. The most powerful experimental design for studying the environmental impact of a project, negative and also a positive effect, is the Before—After Ctrl—Impact (KISSES). For example, measuring the richness and abundance of invertebrates and plants inside and outside the implantation plot and also censoring the populations of agrosteppe birds in the area of influence before and after installing the PSF. And replicate it at the same time on a plot without PSF, as a control; to determine that the change is due to environmental fallow and not to other environmental factors.

At Ideas MedioAmbiental we also study the positive effects of implementing renewable energies for biodiversity, and we facilitate the integration of photovoltaic solar plants into agroecosystems.

Agricultural intensification has caused the decline of farmland bird populations across Europe (Donald et al. 2001; Rigal et al. 2023). High-intensity farming simplifies agricultural mosaics by removing non-cultivated landscape elements such as fallow land and field margins. However, birds depend on semi-natural areas for feeding and nesting in dry cereal farmland. In fact, the decline of farmland bird populations in the Iberian Peninsula is linked to the loss of Fallow Land (Traba & Morales 2019).

The main impact of solar photovoltaic power stations (SPPSs) on farmland birds is habitat loss (Serrano et al. 2020): around 2 ha of land per MWp of power. However, if managed as large pesticide-free fallow patches, SPPSs may function as sources of seeds and invertebrates that spread along field margins throughout farmland (spillover effects; Blitzer et al. 2012): i.e. large patches (> 10 ha of fallow land) interact with linear corridors (field margins of at least 1.5 m in width) to move trophic resources for farmland birds throughout the agricultural landscape for a long time (the useful life of SPPSs is 30 years). Managing SPPSs as large pesticide-free fallow patches converts non-habitat into landscape heterogeneity in intensive farmland. Therefore, SPPSs managed as fallow land may mitigate the negative effects of agricultural intensification on farmland birds.

References

Blitzer E, Dormann C, Holzschuh A, Klein A, Rand T, Tscharntke T. 2012. Spill-over of functionally important organisms between managed and natural habitats. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 146:34-43.

Donald PF, Green RE, Heath MF. 2001. Agricultural intensification and the collapse of Europe's farmland bird populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 268:25-29.

Rigal S et al. 2023. Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120: e2216573120

Serrano D et al. 2020. Renewables in Spain threaten biodiversity. Science 370:1282-1283.

Traba J, Morales MB. 2019. The decline of farmland birds in Spain is strongly associated with the loss of Fallowland. Scientific Reports 9:9473.

Salgado I. 2023. Solar photovoltaic power stations in dry cereal farmland: how to convert habitat loss into landscape heterogeneity. The Journal Of Brief Ideas. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8196218

https://beta.briefideas.org/ideas/99aa7548a13ac96f35393d628a3b9c74

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Iván Salgado, Biodiversity