Are panthers losing out on land as solar power grows popular?
FAU study raises concerns about the impact on the wild cats and other wildlife
Solar power plants have grown popular across Florida, but could be harming panthers’ ability to roam, hunt and mate across the state, according to a new study that raises concerns about the impact on the wild cats and other wildlife.
Panthers and other species need large swaths of land to thrive. But such solar facilities may replace grasslands, agricultural lands or forests with rows of fenced-in solar panels, according to the study recently released by Florida Atlantic University. And the facilities’ fences could prevent panthers and other species from traveling as freely as they once could. This problem — which the study calls “habitat fragmentation” — also may be compounded by the addition of roads and neighborhoods.
The study examined 45 current or planned solar energy plants across Florida, equaling about 27,688 acres, but it excluded the state’s panhandle region. Overall, after these facilities were installed, the quality of the panthers’ nearby habitats were diminished, with few exceptions, the study concluded.
The study focused primarily on panthers, but authors said they expect a similar impact on other endangered and protected wildlife in Florida, including gopher tortoises, eastern indigo snakes, Florida scrub jay, burrowing owls and black bears.
“As we transition to renewable energy, it is important to not to let other major environmental issues ... slip out of our sight,” said Olena Leskova, a Ph.D. candidate at FAU, geographer and geospatial scientist at the South Florida Water Management District and the senior author of the study, which was originally published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. “It’s even more important not to exacerbate such issues by increasing habitat fragmentation and degradation, habitat loss and by creating barriers to connectivity.”
Accommodating wildlife
Most of the solar plants in the study have 6-foot-tall chain-link fences with barbed wire surrounding the facilities, according to the researchers, but some of the facilities have wildlife-friendly fences with split rails that allow animals to jump over, crawl under or through the middle posts. They say the type of fencing can have a huge impact on wildlife migration and whether their habitats are divided.
As solar power technology expands, Florida utility companies such as Florida Power and Light, as well as Duke Energy and others should work closely with conservation groups and legislative bodies to help protect wildlife, the authors say in their recommendations. Duke Energy and Florida Power and Light said their companies follow all state and federal laws and work with environmental agencies and organizations.
FPL spokeswoman Lisa Paul said in a statement that the company has a number of policies and programs intended to protect endangered species and is “committed to protecting Florida’s unique ecosystems and wildlife.”
Starting in 2021, all of the company’s future plants will feature the wildlife-friendly fencing, according to Paul. The company “carefully considers” the impact of their facilities on wildlife and their habitats, she said.
Where the panthers roam
Researchers pointed to the vast amount of public data already available on panthers, having been endangered for around 50 years.
Florida has fewer than 150 panthers and each one needs about 200 square miles to find a diverse group of potential mates to avoid inbreeding, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Panthers are considered endangered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the main international institution for classifying animals’ conservation status.
Panthers’ main habitat spans South Florida, from the western portions of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties through much of Florida’s southwest coast in Collier and Hendry Counties, although they’ve been observed in rural areas throughout the entire state and as far north as southern Georgia.
While most of the panther habitats in the study are north and west of South Florida, their prime breeding populations are in the Everglades, west of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. They’ve also been sighted in J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area in northwest Palm Beach County.
There has never been a report of a panther attack on humans, but increased residential development has increased sightings. In one rare tragedy in 2018, a panther killed a housecat that lived outside near Naples.