Solar Energy-driven Land-cover Change Could Alter Landscapes Critical to Animal Movement in the Continental United States

The United States may produce as much as 45% of its electricityusing solar energy technology by 2050, which could require more than40,000 km(2) of land to be converted to large-scale solarenergy production facilities. Little is known about how such developmentmay impact animal movement. Here, we use five spatially explicit projectionsof solar energy development through 2050 to assess the extent to whichground-mounted photovoltaic solar energy expansion in the continentalUnited States may impact land-cover and alter areas important foranimal movement. Our results suggest that there could be a substantialoverlap between solar energy development and land important for animalmovement: across projections, 7-17% of total development isexpected to occur on land with high value for movement between largeprotected areas, while 27-33% of total development is expectedto occur on land with high value for climate-change-induced migration.We also found substantial variation in the potential overlap of developmentand land important for movement at the state level. Solar energy development,and the policies that shape it, may align goals for biodiversity andclimate change by incorporating the preservation of animal movementas a consideration in the planning process. Little is known about the effects ofsolar energy developmenton animal movement. This study reports that solar development in theUnited States may substantially overlap (up to 30% of land potentiallydeveloped for solar) with high-value regions for animal movement.