Systematic review protocol for evaluating the ecological effects of ground-mounted photovoltaic facilities on faunistic biodiversity in grasslands✰
- 1Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Bundesallee 65, Braunschweig, 38116, Germany
- 2University of Greifswald, Partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre, Soldmannstraße 15, Greifswald, 17489, Germany
- 3Institute of Environmental Planning, Leibniz University Hannover, Herrenhäuser Straße 2, Hannover, 30419, Germany
Abstract
Biodiversity loss and climate change are two interconnected crises, but are often addressed separately in policy and land-use planning, which creates trade-offs, especially regarding renewable energy systems. As photovoltaic (PV) installations expand globally, concerns about how this land-use change affects biodiversity are growing. Few studies have examined the effects of ground-mounted PV facilities on biodiversity, and evidence remains limited, especially for faunistic biodiversity. Thus, we defined this systematic review protocol in January 2024, according to PRISMA guidelines and applying the PECO framework to guide a relatedsystematic review. Especially, development of adequate search string and validation of its comprehensiveness crucial: A systematic search string was developed using the R packages "litsearchr" (Grames et al. 2019) with an additional pruning exercise which improved the search string result. And, a workflow was developed to validate the comprehensiveness of different search strings using a benchmark list of publications and publications found by applying a search string from a published systematic map with a broader research question. In addition, the application and screening using the software CADIMA increased transparency and reproducibility of the method. Therefore, this protocol could serve as a blueprint for similar research questions involving other ecosystems by adapting published methods to a specific ecological question.
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BibTeX
@article{koppensteiner2026systematic,
title = {{Systematic review protocol for evaluating the ecological effects of ground-mounted photovoltaic facilities on faunistic biodiversity in grasslands✰}},
author = {Wiltrut Koppensteiner and Arndt Piayda and Hanna Rae Martens and Felix Zitzmann and Kirsten Brandt and Franziska Tanneberger and Bärbel Tiemeyer},
journal = {MethodsX},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.mex.2026.104209},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13718679},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Systematic review protocol for evaluating the ecological effects of ground-mounted photovoltaic facilities on faunistic biodiversity in grasslands✰
AU - Wiltrut Koppensteiner
AU - Arndt Piayda
AU - Hanna Rae Martens
AU - Felix Zitzmann
AU - Kirsten Brandt
AU - Franziska Tanneberger
AU - Bärbel Tiemeyer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - MethodsX
DO - 10.1016/j.mex.2026.104209
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13718679
AB - Biodiversity loss and climate change are two interconnected crises, but are often addressed separately in policy and land-use planning, which creates trade-offs, especially regarding renewable energy systems. As photovoltaic (PV) installations expand globally, concerns about how this land-use change affects biodiversity are growing. Few studies have examined the effects of ground-mounted PV facilities on biodiversity, and evidence remains limited, especially for faunistic biodiversity. Thus, we defined this systematic review protocol in January 2024, according to PRISMA guidelines and applying the PECO framework to guide a relatedsystematic review. Especially, development of adequate search string and validation of its comprehensiveness crucial: A systematic search string was developed using the R packages "litsearchr" (Grames et al. 2019) with an additional pruning exercise which improved the search string result. And, a workflow was developed to validate the comprehensiveness of different search strings using a benchmark list of publications and publications found by applying a search string from a published systematic map with a broader research question. In addition, the application and screening using the software CADIMA increased transparency and reproducibility of the method. Therefore, this protocol could serve as a blueprint for similar research questions involving other ecosystems by adapting published methods to a specific ecological question.
SN - 2215-0161
ER -