Solar park management and design to boost bumble bee populations

Abstract/Summary:

Solar photovoltaics is projected to become the dominant renewable, with much capacity being installed as ground-mounted solar parks. Land use change for solar can affect ecosystems across spatial scales and solar parks offer a unique opportunity for ecological enhancement. One compelling potential benefit beginning to be deployed by the solar industry is management for insect pollinators. Specifically, solar parks can provide refuge for pollinators through the provision of suitable habitat, potentially contributing to halting and reversing widespread declines recorded in some pollinator groups. There is scope to both manage and design solar parks for pollinators, but understanding is limited. Using a geographic information system and a process-based pollinator model, we explore how solar park management, size, shape and landscape context might impact ground-nesting bumble bee density, nest density and nest productivity inside existing solar parks and surrounding landscapes in the UK.