{"id":45570,"date":"2026-11-10T09:55:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=45570"},"modified":"2026-11-10T09:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:55:31","slug":"solar-farm-fence-helps-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/solar-farm-fence-helps-wildlife\/45570\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineers cut 30 small doors into a Nevada solar farm fence for tortoises, and rattlesnakes, rabbits and foxes used them too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Solar power is often regarded as one of the most environmentally friendly ways to produce electricity<\/strong>. We’ve seen this image many times before.<\/p>\n

A field of rows of solar panels sits quietly in an open area, gathering sunlight. But we rarely see anything else around these panels.<\/p>\n

One example is a fence. To some wildlife, a fence can become a wall.<\/p>\n

This realization led to an unusual experiment conducted at a solar facility located in the Mojave Desert near Pahrump, Nevada.<\/p>\n

Engineers made thirty small holes in the perimeter fencing. These holes were intended to aid one specific type of animal.<\/p>\n

However, the results included three more types of animals.<\/p>\n

Something as ordinary as a fence changed everything<\/h2>\n

Large-scale solar facilities in the arid Southwest U.S. have typically been developed in areas that serve as essential wildlife habitats.<\/p>\n

Wildlife habitats may become isolated by fencing. The desert tortoise is highly sensitive to habitat fragmentation.<\/p>\n

Their sensitivity largely stems from the need for continuous habitat<\/strong> rather than separate patches of land.<\/p>\n

Therefore, what was originally intended as an environmentally supportive form of renewable energy has created an additional source of environmental stress.<\/p>\n

Yet thirty small openings changed the equation<\/h3>\n

The primary objective of this project’s fence was to protect the infrastructure and restrict access.<\/p>\n

From the viewpoint of wildlife, however, it represented an additional obstacle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

One objective was to determine whether the size of this barrier could be diminished without interfering with the overall operation of the facility.<\/p>\n

Rather than altering the entire site, engineers decided to focus on creating openings within the fence.<\/p>\n

\"\"
USFWS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/h2>\n

Fence openings were only part of the story<\/h2>\n

As part of this project, various wildlife-friendly characteristics were integrated into the design in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most vegetation was preserved instead of being removed entirely.<\/p>\n

Solar panel placement allowed increased amounts of sunlight to pass through and hit the ground below.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the designers’ aim was to generate electricity while preserving<\/strong> as much functional habitat as possible.<\/p>\n

Tortoises were not the only species to benefit<\/h3>\n

During warmer months, desert tortoises were observed traveling throughout the site.<\/p>\n

Evidence from those observations indicated that the openings in the fence were functioning<\/strong> as desired.<\/p>\n

Rattlesnakes, black-tailed jackrabbits, and kit foxes also used the openings.<\/p>\n

Features designed for one species ultimately benefited numerous other species<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When a physical barrier ceases to exist, multiple species can experience benefits simultaneously.<\/p>\n

The findings came with an important caveat<\/h2>\n

While significant conclusions emerged from this study, limitations existed.<\/p>\n

The Nevada-based solar array was relatively small in comparison to other solar development projects.<\/p>\n

Additionally, larger-scale solar developments can potentially affect far greater numbers<\/strong> of animals over significantly larger geographic regions.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the study did not indicate that those negative effects would diminish entirely.<\/p>\n

Both researchers involved in the study noted limitations of mitigation measures.<\/p>\n

Some landscapes may be considered “too valuable”<\/a> for use as experimental sites for development.<\/p>\n

Some decisions matter before a single panel is installed<\/h3>\n

Attention also turned to whether alternatives could reduce or eliminate impacts on threatened species.<\/p>\n

Some recommendations based on this project include identifying areas of low conservation value before construction begins.<\/p>\n

Possible alternatives to where new development can occur include disturbed land, abandoned agricultural lands, or lands near existing transportation corridors.<\/p>\n

This research has shown that there is no inherent conflict between renewable energy production<\/a> and protecting wildlife habitats.<\/p>\n

Although the fence modifications did not solve every problem, they showed that animals will continue to seek ways through barriers.<\/p>\n

When tortoises, rattlesnakes, jackrabbits, and foxes all used the same openings, the importance of those connections became difficult to ignore<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Solar power is often regarded as one of the most environmentally friendly ways to produce electricity. We’ve seen this image many times before. A field of rows of solar panels sits quietly in an open area, gathering sunlight. But we rarely see anything else around these panels. One example is a fence. To some wildlife, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":45575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"solar,farm,wildlife","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Thirty small openings cut into a Nevada solar farm fence helped desert tortoises move through the site, but rattlesnakes, jackrabbits, and foxes used them too.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45570"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45716,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45570\/revisions\/45716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}