Projected ecosystem responses to environmental changes associated with offshore wind farms and ocean warming

Abstract

Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are rapidly expanding to meet growing demands for renewable energy, with development expected to extend further offshore into deeper waters. Given this expanded human footprint, it is important to better understand the long-term ecological consequences of OWFs and how these may interact with ongoing climate change. We used the coupled hydrodynamic-ecosystem-biogeochemical water-column model (GOTM-ERSEM-BFM) to investigate ecosystem-wide responses to environmental changes associated with OWFs and climate warming. Specifically, we examined OWF-related scenarios of reduced benthic suspension-feeding activity, representing potential effects of contaminant emissions from OWFs, and reduced wind forcing, together with increased sea surface temperature. The scenarios were simulated individually and in combination to explore potential interactive effects. These scenarios were simulated at two contrasting locations in the North Sea, representing a well-mixed coastal site and a seasonally stratified offshore site. The coastal site exhibited comparatively modest ecosystem responses across the scenarios, whereas responses were generally stronger at the deeper offshore site. At the offshore site, changes in stratification altered vertical nutrient dynamics and contributed to pronounced differences in ecosystem responses between the surface and bottom layers. Our results demonstrate that ecosystem responses to OWF-related and climate-driven environmental changes are strongly dependent on local environmental conditions, suggesting that ecological consequences may differ substantially as wind farm development expands from shallower to deeper environments.