From Green Energy to Brown Earth: The Unintended Effects of Wind Farms on Plant Diversity

摘要: Global wind power expansion raises concerns about its potential impact on plant diversity. Using a high-dimensional fixed effects model, this study reveals significant plant diversity reduction due to wind farm construction based on 2,404 wind farms, 108,361 wind turbines, and 7,904,352 plant diversity observations during 2000-2022 in China. Within a 1-10 km buffer, the normalized differential vegetation and enhanced vegetation indices decrease from 0.0097 to 0.0045 and 0.0075 to 0.0028, respectively. Similarly, absorbed photosynthetically active radiation and gross primary productivity decline from 0.0094% to 0.0034% and 0.0003 to 0.0002 g* C/m2 within a 1-7 km buffer. Adverse effects last over three years, magnified in summer and autumn, and are more pronounced at lower altitudes and in plains. Forest carbon sinks decrease by 12,034 tons within a 0-20 km radius, causing a $1.81 million economic loss on average. Our findings underscore the importance of protecting ecosystems when expanding renewable energy infrastructures.