Biology subjects

Vallejo, G. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Vallejo, G. C..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

OCcAM: A tool for rapidly assessing impacts of offshore wind farms on seabirds

Offshore wind energy generation has a key role in reducing reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating climate change. However, it also has the potential to negatively impact the environment, including seabird populations. Quantifying and minimising impacts of wind projects on seabirds is necessary for ensuring compliance with environmental legislation and safeguarding populations. However, the timescales and complexity involved in assessment processes can limit the extent to which estimates can be leveraged towards balancing environmental impact and energy generation. OCcAM is a simple, user-friendly and transparent industry-developed tool allowing rapid assessment of impacts on seabirds from offshore wind developments. Mortality rates of five seabird species are estimated using two UK industry-standard models: the Band collision risk model which predicts fatal collisions with turbine blades, and the matrix-based displacement approach that predicts mortalities associated with distributional responses to the presence of a wind farm. The tool supports simultaneous analysis of up to three input parameter sets and predictions can be expressed as a percentage of a focal population. OCcAM allows auditable analyses to be run quickly and easily with no requirement for specific technical expertise, making it accessible to all stakeholders. It presents a variety of opportunities to facilitate ornithological assessment at strategic to project-specific scales. Here we demonstrate three potential applications of OCcAM: (1) predicting the cumulative impact of Scottish offshore wind farms upon protected seabird populations, (2) updating fatality estimates calculated for worst-case consented values using as-built input parameters and (3) optioneering of project design parameters relative to seabird risk.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Biomechanical properties of defence vibrations produced by bees

AbstractBees use thoracic vibrations produced by their indirect flight muscles for powering wingbeats in flight, but also during mating, pollination, defence, and nest building. Previous work on non-flight vibrations has mostly focused on acoustic (airborne vibrations) and spectral properties (frequency domain). However, mechanical properties such as the vibrations acceleration amplitude are important in some behaviours, e.g., during buzz pollination, where higher amplitude vibrations remove more pollen from flowers. Bee vibrations have been studied in only a handful of species and we know very little about how they vary among species. Here, we conduct the largest survey to date of the biomechanical properties of non-flight bee buzzes. We focus on defence buzzes as they can be induced experimentally and provide a common currency to compare among taxa. We analysed 15,000 buzzes produced by 306 individuals in 65 species and six families from Mexico, Scotland, and Australia. We found a strong association between body size and the acceleration amplitude of bee buzzes. Comparison of genera that buzz-pollinate and those that do not suggests that buzz-pollinating bees produce vibrations with higher acceleration amplitude. We found no relationship between bee size and the fundamental frequency of defence buzzes. Although our results suggest that body size is a major determinant of the amplitude of non-flight vibrations, we also observed considerable variation in vibration properties among bees of equivalent size and even within individuals. Both morphology and behaviour thus affect the biomechanical properties of non-flight buzzes. Summary statementAnalyses across 65 bee taxa in three continents indicates that body size is a major determinant of the acceleration amplitude but not the oscillation frequency of non-flight thoracic vibrations.

ecology↗