  Wind turbines (WT) cause bird and bat mortalities which depend on the WT and
landscape features. The effects of WT features and environmental variables at
different spatial scales associated to bat deaths in a mountainous and forested
area in Thrace, NE Greece were investigated. Initially, we sought to quantify
the most lethal WT characteristic between tower height, rotor diameter and
power. The scale of interaction distance between bat deaths and the land cover
characteristics surrounding the WTs was quantified. A statistical model was
trained and validated against bat deaths and WT, land cover and topography
features. Variance partitioning between bat deaths and the explanatory
covariates was conducted. The trained model was used to predict bat deaths
attributed to existing and future wind farm development in the region. Results
indicated that the optimal interaction distance between WT and surrounding land
cover was 5 km, the larger distance than the ones examined. WT power, natural
land cover type and distance from water explained 40 %, 15 % and 11 %
respectively of the total variance in bat deaths by WTs. The model predicted
that operating but not surveyed WTs comprise of 377.8% and licensed but not
operating yet will contribute to 210.2% additional deaths than the ones
recorded. Results indicate that among all WT features and land cover
characteristics, wind turbine power is the most significant factor associated
to bat deaths. Results indicated that WTs located within 5 km buffer comprised
of natural land cover types have substantial higher deaths. More WT power will
result in more deaths. Wind turbines should not be licensed in areas where
natural land cover at a radius of 5km exceeds 50%. These results are discussed
in the climate-land use-biodiversity-energy nexus.
