What impacts on the fauna were observed in the studies you identified to write your comment?
First, I will say a few words about Sousliks so we better understand these issues. Essentially these animals are semi-fossorial animals, meaning they build burrows underground. The greatest depth they can reach is a little over one metre. And they use these burrows for sleeping, for safety, for breeding, for all their biological needs except the feeding that takes place on the ground. Sousliks feed on leaves, flowers, fruits and to a small extent smaller animals such as insects, etc. In winter, they also hibernate in these burrows. As can be seen from the life cycle of the Souslik, the burrows it builds are of great importance to it. And that’s why they don’t stray far from them. Their range of movement, i.e. the area in which they operate to meet all their biological needs, has a radius of a few meters. Males sometimes go further, up to 500 meters or 1 km.
Coming back to your question, depending on the stage of the works the impact may be different. When it is endangered, Sousliks don’t run away but go into their burrows. This means that, in the first stage of the construction, anything that affects burrows, like a road or a digging, will impact Sousliks, often killing them. These works will also thicken the soil. When heavy machinery passes by or when a road is constructed, it results in the soil being compacted, negatively affecting all the animals living 60 centimetres underground.
The EIA prepared by the company claims that there will be no impact on any species during the construction phase, as the animals will temporarily leave the area… In the report we submitted to the open consultation, I documented that this assumption does not apply to certain species, especially the Souslik. Like other terrestrial species – such as the mole or various species of small rodents – the Souslik is not easily removed from its habitat. The Souslik is closely linked to its burrow. During construction works, such an animal will not go, but will remain underground and, if there is surface disturbance by heavy machinery, it is very likely to be killed. It is important to assess each species according to its biological needs. This is a serious ecological issue that the study does not take into account.
It is also important to notice that, even if construction works do not take place exactly in an area where Sousliks are present, this doesn’t mean that they will not be impacted. Here, we open the question of indirect impacts. A typical example is ecosystem fragmentation. Roads or facilities create artificial barriers that imped the natural movements of animals. These barriers prevent communication between the different colonies of animals and between individuals. By restricting movement between populations, a ‘genetic barrier’ – what science calls the bottleneck effect – is gradually created. In such conditions, populations begin to reproduce in isolation, increasing the risk of inbreeding and making the ecosystem more vulnerable to environmental pressures and diseases.
Another indirect risk is habitat alteration: by changing the landscape and building roads it is easy to introduce invasive species. Seeds for instance can travel through animals or because they get on cars and machines. Whenever we create new roads, we increase the chances that plants will travel great distances and start colonising new places. And it upsets the balance of the local ecosystem. And it is not just plants, animals also use the new roads to travel easier on longer distances.
Moving from the construction phase to the operation phase of a wind farm, it is possible that some Sousliks’ colonies have survived. There are scientific studies showing that the presence of a wind turbine in their living area causes permanent stress to the animals. The propellers produce a continuous low-frequency sound, so that the animals are not well aware of their surroundings. For a species such as the Souslik, which is prey for predators, the inability to perceive the environment leads to constant vigilance. Biologically, this means that their bodies are constantly producing adrenaline. Although it can survive in these conditions, the chronic pressure can have an impact on reproduction, feeding, communication with other Sousliks… So we’re talking about a bad quality of life.
As you can see, there are different impacts both during and after the construction of such a project. However, in order to evaluate them, it is absolutely necessary to rely on scientific literature and studies that have been carried out on similar projects, in Greece and abroad. It is the only way to built an in-depth understanding of the impacts of such projects on the ecosystem.