Solar parks as an opportunity to jointly advance climate-change mitigation and biodiversity conservation

Nadja K. Simons , Esme Ashe-Jepson, Christian Hof, Malte Jochum

Anthropogenic climate change is among the most pressing challenges for humanity making carbon-neutral energy production a top priority. Across the globe, solar energy is the single fastest growing energy source with solar parks covering more and more land surface area across many continents. The rise in solar energy production affects terrestrial biodiversity in the areas now occupied by solar parks but our knowledge on the consequences for biodiversity lacks behind the speed of solar-park establishment. This discrepancy likely leads to suboptimal policies regarding solar-park placement, design, and management which, if optimized, could potentially lead to synergies instead of trade-offs between climate-change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Here, we summarize previous research and remaining knowledge gaps regarding the impacts of solar-park placement, design, and management on biodiversity. If adequately placed, solar parks could increase landscape heterogeneity and habitat connectivity. Solar-park design could enhance microclimate and habitat heterogeneity. Extensive management could make solar parks valuable semi-natural ecosystems for many species of insects, birds, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Based on our assessment of knowledge gaps, we make suggestions for future research. We still lack comprehensive information on solar-park impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across spatial and temporal scales, and a combined multitrophic, above-belowground perspective. We suggest using standardized, replicated research designs focusing on i) comparing solar parks to adequate, nearby, alternative ecosystem types as well as ii) studying impacts of solar parks across temporal, and iii) spatial scales. Such research would enable comprehensive evaluations of solar-park impacts on biodiversity and would allow policymakers to adequately steer solar-park placement, design and management toward optimizing synergies between renewable energy production (and thus climate change mitigation) and biodiversity conservation for the joint benefit of nature and people.