Picture the giant spinning blades of a wind turbine.
Now imagine being a rabbit or a squirrel catching sight or sound of one for the first time. The flashing shadows alone would be enough to cause terror, never mind the roaring noise.
But one species of plucky squirrel couldn’t care less about turbine disturbance. They’re fussy for a completely different, bizarre reason.
What was it that made scores of picky squirrels vamoose when a wind farm came to town?
What made squirrels in China picky about real estate
An important clean energy experiment is underway in the desert grasslands of northern China.
Scientists are studying wind farms to answer a critical environmental question: What impact does the industrial infrastructure have on local wildlife?
The focus of their study was the Alashan ground squirrel (Spermophilus alashanicus), a vulnerable species that could use some conservation.
Researchers expected the worst. They assumed that the booming mechanical noise and giant rotating blades would drive the rodents off in terror.
But they encountered a mystery instead. Across most of the farm, Alashan ground squirrels were totally unbothered by the energy giants above. They were observed going about their busy lives as they normally would.
Yet in some zones, they completely vanished. The machinery above wasn’t the issue; they took umbrage from what was beneath.
What made the changes in the terrain so utterly unacceptable?
Ruling out the usual squirrel irritants as suspects
To solve the conundrum, researchers first had to eliminate other obvious causes.
Was it the noise pollution in the abondoned areas that drove them off? Perhaps the flickering shadows of the blades or constant vibrations? The data says no.
Did the vegetation in the wind farm change so much that it caused a food shortage? Remarkably, there was more than enough flora to support this species of fauna.
The rodents were healthy, resilient, and surprisingly tolerant of the industrial presence.
But there was still an invisible line that they refused to cross.
Ground-dwelling, burrowing rodents have particular ways they interact with their environment. The disruption bothering them was to the terrain.
The turbine construction phase caused a severe structural problem on the ground the squirrels were meant to live on, says the National Institutes of Health.
What physical flaw turned the floor to lava for squirrels?
The literally uncomfortable truth: Squirrels have needs below ground
The answer to the mystery of the no-go zones came down to why the squirrels boycotted certain patches of land.
It had everything to do with the layers beneath the surface, which is even the case with offshore wind projects.
While the turbines were being constructed, heavy machinery, deep excavations, and the laying of foundations changed the soil conditions.
The earth was severely compacted, making it way more dense and compact than before.
This is a matter of life and death for the Alashan ground squirrel, a subterranean species with below-ground needs.
They need to be able to escape into underground burrows when predators arrive on the scene. The intricate tunnels are also their nurseries for their young and havens in severe weather.
The construction machinery itself left an obvious footprint
What humans did was accidentally engineer impenetrable soil. The squirrels’ tiny paws are no tools to speak of against the new ground density.
When their foundation of daily life is ruined, wildlife won’t stick around to suffer.
It’s a lesson to learn about the consequences of the transition to renewable energy. While it’s vital for the protection of the entire planet, the smallest inhabitants shouldn’t be ignored as we bulldoze our way to a cleaner future.
Even frogs’ lives are changed by energy infrastructure.
How do we balance our major-scale clean power demands while considering the microcosms in the footprints?