Our studies
Discover the expert solutions of Sens Of Life at every stage of your renewable energy projects. From the initial impact study to post-installation monitoring, including site monitoring and ERC measurements, we support you to ensure development in harmony with biodiversity. Click on the images below to learn more about each key phase of your project.
Initial impact study
or repowering
Sens Of Life supports you in conducting initial assessments of natural environments for the development or repowering of your renewable energy projects (wind, solar, agrivoltaics). This pre-installation study aims to precisely identify the natural stakes in potential project sites and refine taxonomic knowledge of the studied area. All groups are analyzed: birds, bats, terrestrial mammals, amphibians, reptiles, insects, flora, and habitats.
Construction site monitoring
Related to environmental control missions, Sens Of Life supports you in conducting construction site monitoring to meet the requirements of government authorities during the construction phase of your renewable energy projects (wind, photovoltaic, agrivoltaic), with the goal of preserving biodiversity as much as possible in the study areas.
Post-installation monitoring
National regulations require the monitoring of the impact of an ICPE classified installation on flying fauna (birds and bats) during the operational phase. This monitoring must take place in the first year and then be renewed every ten years. It consists, unless additional requirements are specified by a regional protocol and/or a prefectural decree, of ground monitoring of bird and bat mortality and monitoring of bat ultrasonic activity at nacelle height. Thus, for the first part of the study, Sens Of Life conducts at least 20 site visits between spring and autumn.
Each visit involves meticulously inspecting the areas around the wind turbines following a strict protocol. The discovered mortality cases constitute the "gross mortality," which must be adjusted by three correction factors, due to:
1. The predation bias (i.e., the probability that a carcass is not found because it was taken by a predator);
2. The surface bias (i.e., the areas actually surveyed by our study managers, which vary depending on the vegetation under the wind turbines);
3. The observer bias (i.e., the probability that a study manager misses a carcass due to poor visibility in a particular area, for example).
At the end of the field season, the "estimated mortality" is calculated from the "gross mortality" adjusted by these three biases, reflecting as accurately as possible the actual mortality. The implementation of avoidance, reduction, and compensation (ERC) measures is recommended for wind farms with too high an impact on these two taxa, to ensure a healthy coexistence between renewable energy and biodiversity. For the second part of the study, Sens Of Life conducts ultrasonic activity monitoring of bats by installing a TrackBat® at nacelle height, which will allow the characterization of the bat species assemblage and its activity pattern based on date, time, wind speed, temperature, etc.
Monitoring of ERC measures
After characterizing the impacts of a project, the objectives of the ERCA sequence are to Avoid environmental harm from the design stage of a project, by reflecting the project owner's choices in developing a lower-impact project, to Reduce those impacts that could not be sufficiently avoided during the design and operational phases, and even to Compensate for the harmful consequences of a project that could neither be avoided nor sufficiently reduced. These measures may be supplemented by Support measures.
This ERCA sequence applies to projects, plans, and programs subject to environmental assessment, as well as to projects subject to various procedures under the Environmental Code. Sens Of Life is able to provide its naturalist expertise to guide and support project owners in the development and implementation of the Avoid-Reduce-Compensate-Support approach.
Naturalist Monitoring
Sens Of Life offers its naturalist expertise to ensure rigorous biodiversity monitoring on your project sites. Whether it concerns avifauna, bats, flora, or terrestrial fauna, our teams conduct detailed inventories and in-depth analyses to preserve ecosystems throughout the different phases of development and operation.
Migration
The main objective during this monitoring is to highlight the migratory importance of a site. Several fixed observation posts will be placed within the study area, often in open areas that extend far to ensure good visibility over several kilometers in the direction of migration. For birds making migratory stops (for rest or feeding), it is necessary to move within the study perimeter and its surroundings to highlight the site's "transit" nature. Species are sought and identified by sight, either with the naked eye, binoculars, or a spotting scope.
Diurnal Nesting Species
The main objective during this monitoring is to highlight the nesting potential of a site. At this time of year, the songs emitted by diurnal birds serve both to communicate with their mates for reproduction and to mark the boundaries of their breeding territory. We first use the IPA (Point Abundance Index) technique, conducting 10-minute listening points at dawn, evenly distributed across the study area. These species are searched for and identified by sight, either with the naked eye, binoculars, or by sound.
We then supplement this by monitoring diurnal nesting raptors and other large species (non-songbirds, which have a large hunting range and are often in flight). We look for nesting indicators such as courtship displays, mating, cases of carrying construction materials, transporting food, searching for nests, etc. These species are searched for and identified by sight, either with the naked eye, binoculars, or a spotting scope.
Nocturnal Nesting Species
The main objective during this monitoring is to highlight the nesting potential of a site. Two methods are combined and used simultaneously at each listening point: passive listening (especially for the Common Quail) and the playback method. The latter consists of broadcasting territorial calls of nocturnal raptors to solicit responses to these calls: playback for 30 seconds of a species' call, listen for two minutes, playback for a second species, etc. Listening points are conducted in the study area, from dusk until three hours after sunset.
Wintering Species
The main objective during this monitoring is to highlight the importance of a site as a wintering area. This relies on pedestrian surveys within the study area and observations from fixed points. The location of winter gatherings (raptor roosts, passerine flocks, wader or passerine feeding or resting areas), as well as any movements from roosts to feeding sites, are the focus of more targeted research within the study area.
Buzzard Nests
The main objective during this monitoring is to locate buzzard nests in cultivated fields, in order to protect them from destruction during the harvest period. The species are searched for and identified by sight, either with the naked eye, binoculars, or a spotting scope, and by sound (alarm calls), by two ornithologists in constant communication. Observations are made from fixed points with good visibility. As soon as a nest is suspected in a field, the two ornithologists triangulate its position and set up a protective cage in agreement with the farmer managing the field.
This study aims to highlight the absence or presence of bats on site, recording and identifying the species present at different altitudes throughout the year. The expertise in bat monitoring is designed to guide the developer towards the placement of the renewable energy project with minimal impact on bat populations, and to propose suitable mitigation measures tailored to the context of the potential installation zone (environment, species, type of activity).
Bat Roost Search:
These surveys aim to locate bat hibernation and breeding areas and identify the species present. Identifying habitats favorable to bats, such as linear structures (walls, buildings, hedges) or ecological corridors, helps guide the search for roosts.
Ground Acoustic Surveys:
We strategically survey bat activity by listening points throughout the bat activity season, conducting multiple surveys per season (parturition and migration periods). These analyses can be combined with active surveys, using the transect method, depending on the issues present at the project site.
Acoustic Studies at Height:
We are able to record bat ultrasonic activity at height (on measurement poles), continuously and without sampling, using our TrackBat® acquisition systems or other tools (SM3Bat, SM4Bat,...), to characterize the bat species community and their activity patterns based on date, time, wind speed, temperature, etc.
Floral inventories will be carried out using the "minimal area" method, which allows for relevant sampling based on the surface area represented by each habitat. Transects will be used to refine the delimitation of different habitats in order to establish a precise map of land use and natural habitats within the project areas, while ensuring representation of the plant communities in place.
The botanical expertise provided by Sens Of Life focuses on higher plants. The identification of plant species in each season helps determine the different plant formations or vegetation patches, and strengthens the identification of habitats. These assessments help establish the level of environmental concerns based on the site's value, guiding project developers in the design of their projects through avoidance, reduction, and compensation (ERC) measures.
The characterization of wetlands will first be carried out by analyzing the floral species, and in case of suspected wetland areas, soil coring will be performed to precisely characterize and define the area.
The inventory efforts will be intensified on micro-habitats that favor the development of amphibians (water points, wetlands, etc.) and reptiles (wood piles, edges, rocky slabs, sunny slopes, etc.), complemented by the search for signs of presence (molts, eggs, etc.), listening to the calls of amphibians, and placing artificial shelters for reptiles. Identifications are primarily made based on visual detections and/or by capture if necessary.
The Odonates, Rhopaloceran Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera are the main insect groups inventoried by the naturalist experts at Sens Of Life. The identification of these groups is done visually, either in flight or perched in the vegetation, or captured using a net if necessary.
The identification of terrestrial mammals on a site can be done through visual observation, using camera traps, by sound, and/or by observing traces (footprints, burrows, digs, food remains, droppings, etc.). These different methods are combined during terrestrial mammal inventories carried out by Sens Of Life.
