Climate change poses substantive sustainability challenges to human and natural spheres globally. As atmospheric CO2 increases over the next century, it is expected to become the first or second greatest driver of global biodiversity loss (Sala et al. 2000, Thomas et al. 2004). To reduce CO2 emissions countries are turning to renewable energy, which has seen major growth in recent decades. Global solar power capacity reached 29GW in 2012 (Kumar Sahu 2015) and will continue to grow well into the future to meet energy demands. Total electricity production from renewables across the globe has more than doubled since 1990 (US EIA, 2015), and is set to increase as declining costs and environmental policies encourage developing nations to expand renewable energy sources. However, there is growing recognition that while addressing climate change is absolutely necessary, we should understand how land-use change and water use are affecting surrounding landscapes (Sala et al. 2000, Heller and Zavaleta 2009). Developing models to describe these interactions between facilities and the natural environment will improve the design of management plans and mitigation proposals that are a necessary part of renewable energy project reviews. This in turn can improve the often adversarial process that brings together policy makers, regulators, conservationists, finance agents, and public initiatives (Clarke 2014, Paskus 2014).
There are relatively few current examples where direct competition for land suitable for energy facilities coincides with known bee habitat. In order to create valid data banks and predictive models it is critical to find sites where this occurs and gain access to them for a diverse range of data collection. For instance, collecting data on common bees will identify and help clarify if renewable energy is changing pollinator distribution or behaviour. This is best obtained by comparing data on pollinators and plants at sites not yet affected by energy developments to pollinator and plant data at sites supporting energy facilities that are already operational or under construction during the same time period. This will include quantitative comparisons of the biota between sites to yield invaluable assessment of positive or negative effects of renewable energy facilities, assist in the development of management and mitigation policies, and allow valid comparisons of trade-offs with conventional energy sources. By allowing us on site to access current facilities and collect bee data, we will be able to ascertain if current habitat remaining on solar facility sites sustain bee populations that in turn might influence future mitigation measures as well as be able to inform best management practices.
The Mojave Desert eco-region is one of the most undisturbed in North America and a region of very high diversity of plants and bee pollinators. At the same time, the Mojave has seen the recent installation of large renewable energy facilities, longer term development associated with golf courses, casinos, shopping malls, etc., and is earmarked to support 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy over the next 25 years. The impacts of these developments on invertebrate pollinators are largely unknown and will likely vary between facilities which keep or remove native vegetation.
Both positive and negative impacts of renewable energy facilities are likely. For instance, solar facilities employ reflective panels or solar cells that depend on local water to clean surfaces of dust and debris. The addition of water may increase floral resources locally in desert plants that only bloom when water is available. Additionally, water may also benefit ground nesting native solitary bees because they obtain water from the soil surrounding their nest cells. Therefore, the addition of water into these landscapes may create an oasis for both the local flora and insect pollinators. Soil disturbance associated with solar photo voltaic and solar thermal installations may also benefit ground nesting bees by exposing and loosening soil. Conversely, since many plants in the Mojave use water availability as a cue to bloom (and it is suspected that bees do as well), temporal mismatches may occur, forcing bees to forage in alternative areas that may not provide sufficient nutrients to sustain their local populations.
Renewable energy has experienced major growth in recent years with new policy incentives and declining costs of technology. Among the most important and imminent risks of renewable energy development are those associated with habitat loss and consequent alterations to highly interdependent ecosystems. All types of energy development require some level of habitat loss and differ in their environmental impacts. Conventional facilities tend to have complete habitat loss and varying degrees of pollution, whereas many wind and solar facilities have some habitat remaining on the property and much less pollution. Both wind and solar renewable energy development have predictable losses to some avian and mammal populations which have been the focus of many past policies. However, the effects of renewable energy development on invertebrate pollinators, which have recently garnered national attention, and local flora, are largely unknown. Invertebrate pollinators are critically important for food production (valued around 14 billion dollars annually) and ecosystem diversity. These reasons have led to public interest and new incorporation of pollinator populations into local and federal agency management priorities.