Solar Farms as Potential Future Refuges for Bumblebees.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Solar farms offer potential for dual benefits: low-carbon energy generation and nature recovery through habitat creation for pollinators.
• The persistence of these cobenefits under future land-use change is uncertain due to the context-dependent nature of habitat value.

Purpose of the Study:

• To predict the ability of operational solar farms in Great Britain to support bumblebee populations under three distinct socioeconomic futures for 2050.
• To assess the influence of solar farm management and surrounding land-use changes on bumblebee density.

Main Methods:

• Downscaled 1km landcover projections to 10m resolution, incorporating fine-scale habitat features relevant to bumblebees.
• Utilized a process-based model simulating bumblebee foraging and population dynamics to predict bumblebee density.
• Analyzed drivers of bumblebee density change across different scenarios and spatial scales.

Main Results:

• Solar farm management was the primary driver of bumblebee density within solar farms; florally enhanced farms showed ~120% higher densities than turf grass farms.
• Wider landscape changes had a greater impact on bumblebee densities in foraging zones surrounding solar farms.
• Individual solar farms did not consistently counteract the effects of projected future land-use changes on surrounding populations.

Conclusions:

• Solar farm management, particularly floral enhancement, is crucial for maximizing pollinator benefits within the farms.
• The broader landscape context significantly influences the effectiveness of solar farms as pollinator habitats, especially in surrounding areas.
• The study demonstrates a robust methodology for assessing future habitat intervention effectiveness by integrating process-based modeling with high-resolution landcover projections.