International study finds solar panels in China could be harming birds

The researchers found a direct correlation between greater government support for solar and the loss of biodiversity

Solar expansion policies across China have led to a reduction in bird diversity, with wealthier and non-desert regions bearing the brunt of species loss, according to a study led by researchers in China and the US.

They found that solar expansion had eaten into birds’ foraging and breeding grounds, and had left what habitat remained more fragmented, pitting China’s carbon reduction policies against biodiversity conservation.

“Our findings highlight a critical green dilemma: without meticulous spatial planning, policy-driven solar expansion can inadvertently compromise local biodiversity,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday.

“We argue that future photovoltaic development should be accompanied by strict biodiversity safeguards, especially in economically developed regions with high habitat complexity.”

The researchers from China, Vietnam and the US – led by a team from the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology – also discovered a pattern of “inferior greening”, or an increase in leaf area that does not necessarily correlate to better wildlife habitat.

“Our investigation of this mechanism calls for a rethinking of what constitutes ecological health in the context of renewable energy expansion,” the team said.