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Steven Mark Grodsky

Publications and source records attributed to Steven Mark Grodsky.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

Geospatial assessment of agrivoltaic opportunities and land use requirements in Nigeria

Agrivoltaics, the co-location of agriculture and solar photovoltaic (PV) infrastructure, can deliver co-benefits like reduced plant drought stress and improved yields of shade-tolerant crops, particularly in water-scarce regions. Despite growing global interest, the technical potential and opportunities for agrivoltaics remain poorly understood in many regions facing both food and energy insecurity, such as sub-Saharan Africa. Here we provide a spatial assessment of agrivoltaic opportunities in Nigeria by integrating cropland distribution, solar resources, and water stress. We find that northern states—where cropland is abundant and water-stressed, solar irradiance is high, and electricity access remains low—offer the greatest potential for agrivoltaic systems to generate co-benefits. In contrast, the humid forest regions of southern Nigeria exhibit lower suitability, with sparse cropland and weaker solar potential. We also estimate that northern states could fully meet their projected 2050 solar energy targets by allocating less than 1% of existing cropland to agrivoltaics, whereas southern states would require much larger fractions (5.9–18.9%). Notably, in the northern state of Kano, the country’s most populous, allocating 0.6–1.8% of cropland would be sufficient to meet mid-century solar energy projections. Collectively, our findings highlight priority regions where agrivoltaics could most effectively strengthen food-energy security linkages and support equitable energy transition in Nigeria.

Scientific Reports↗
USGS2026

Wildfire smoke reduces the vocal activity of imperiled grassland birds in New York State

Smoke from new fire regimes driven by climate change may affect biodiversity in new regions of the world. Wildfires that occurred in eastern Canada in 2023 burned nearly 7.8 million hectares of forest, sending smoke throughout the northeastern United States. We leveraged passive acoustic monitoring to investigate real-time effects of wildfire smoke on vocalization behavior of globally imperiled grassland birds during the breeding season in open land covers across New York State. We determined an overall negative effect of elevated smoke levels on breeding grassland bird vocal activity. We observed the strongest vocalization responses in Bobolink ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus ) – a colonial breeding, grassland-obligate species; Bobolink vocal activity sharply dropped during intense smoke early in the breeding season, yet increased during a milder smoke event later in the breeding season. Our results indicate that wildfire smoke can present an additive stressor to already imperiled grassland bird species via potential fitness reductions from decreased communication. While some aspects of smoke exposure may be uncontrollable, our results suggest that increased attention to conservation practices that promote grassland birds in the Northeast could be prioritized to offset negative effects of increased smoke associated with global change.

New York↗
USGS2026

Sustainability trade-offs at the nexus of solar energy, agriculture, and biodiversity

A rapid transition to renewable energy is necessary for achieving global decarbonization targets, but siting conflicts, particularly beyond the built environment, remain a key barrier to sustainable development. At the same time, climate-induced pressures on biodiversity intensify the socio-ecological trade-offs within the energy-agriculture-biodiversity nexus. Using New York State as a case study, we assess the geographic implications of utility-scale solar energy development under competing land-use priorities. We apply a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) optimization model to evaluate solar buildout across three distinct scenarios: minimizing cost, prioritizing agricultural preservation, and conserving biodiversity, employing a lexicographic hierarchy to enforce a strict ordering of stakeholder priorities. Results indicate that New York can meet its mid-century decarbonization goals by deploying 46,216 MW dc of solar energy, however, achieving this goal involves considerable land-use trade-offs. A cost-minimizing scenario disproportionately targets pasture and hay lands (>40,000 ha), nearly half of which overlap with grassland bird habitat and broader biodiversity areas. Prioritizing agriculture spares ∼80 % of farmland but creates potential for deforestation of over 41,000 ha. Biodiversity-conscious siting avoids ecologically sensitive areas and increases the annualized total costs by 0.17 %, indicating economic feasibility. Our findings highlight the need for spatially informed, integrative land-use strategies that reconcile climate goals with ecological and agricultural values. By linking geospatial optimization with socio-ecological criteria, this work contributes a transferable framework to inform just and ecologically responsible energy transitions in multifunctional landscapes, offering new insights into how geography can advance sustainable development.

New York↗
USGS2026

Higher methanotroph abundance and bottom-water methane in ponds with floating photovoltaic arrays

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) arrays alter the methane (CH 4 ) cycling dynamics of waterbodies on which they are deployed. Here, we investigated dissolved CH 4 dynamics and associated CH 4 cycling microbial communities (methanogens and methanotrophs) in the second year of FPV deployment (70% aerial coverage) in experimental ponds. We found that bottom-water CH 4 concentrations were twice as high in ponds with FPV compared to those without, while surface water CH 4 concentrations were orders of magnitude lower than bottom-waters, but did not differ between treatments. There was no change in the relative abundances of putative sediment methanogens or methanotrophs, but FPV restructured methanogen communities. FPV promoted late-summer methanotroph blooms in the water column, with abundances surpassing 1,000,000 cells mL -1 . We conclude that prolonged periods of CH 4 production in low oxygen FPV ponds favored blooms of methanotrophs, that may mitigate diffusive CH 4 emissions to the atmosphere by consuming dissolved CH 4 .

BioRxiv↗
USGS2025

Potential interactions between birds and floating photovoltaic solar energy: Spatially informed species vulnerabilities, techno-ecological risks, and sustainability trade-offs

Floating photovoltaics (floating solar panels; FPV) can reduce the negative impacts of solar energy development in terrestrial environments, but their effects on freshwater ecosystems remain poorly understood. We examined potential FPV interactions with avian biodiversity, using previously modeled technical potential of FPV in the northeastern United States. We developed a vulnerability index based on avian species’: (i) morphological traits, (ii) level of conservation concern, and (iii) habitat requirements. Using eBird participatory science data, we assessed the risk of FPV to 291 species of birds occurring at FPV-suitable waterbodies based on their vulnerability index and estimated relative abundance at each location. The greatest risk of FPVs to birds was associated with waterbodies near the Atlantic coast and Great Lakes, and most (80%) of these high-risk waterbodies were smaller waterbodies. Because the avian risk at FPV-suitable waterbodies was not correlated with estimated energy generation, reducing risk to birds might not require energy trade-offs. Moreover, avoiding FPV installations at waterbodies predicted to pose high risk to birds is likely to return social and recreational benefits while minimizing risk of biofouling. Our analysis provides a framework for proactively evaluating risk, reducing potential adverse impacts of FPV to birds, and identifying cobenefits of sustainable FPV siting across waterscapes.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachuse↗
USGS2025

Environmental controls of suppressed fall crop productivity in an agrivoltaic solar array

Globally, agrivoltaics (AV) research has revealed how microclimates created by photovoltaic (PV) panels can be leveraged to promote reciprocal benefits for agricultural land use and PV energy generation. Yet, in regions of the United States where emissions reduction laws are likely to lead to greater PV development on croplands, empirical evaluation of such co-location remain under explored. Furthermore, the most common approach to AV in the United States is one that maximizes energy generation and secondarily accommodates for agricultural management, and the controls of crop production in facilities that employ such an approach are underrepresented in the AV literature. Here, we assessed the agronomic and physiological response of two vegetable crops (radish and radicchio) with different carbon allocation patterns (belowground and aboveground, respectively) in an energy focused AV facility during a fall growing season, in New York, United States. We found that a reduction in total irradiance (−24%) within the AV array decreased total biomass in both crop types (46% and 49%), with significant alterations to root-shoot ratios in radish. Reductions in total biomass were not a result of physiological acclimation, indicating that AV crops had similar photosynthetic capacity as control crops; however, the environmental constraints imposed by energy focused AV design (i.e. reduced irradiance) limited C uptake overall. Our findings highlight the need for novel management approaches (e.g. earlier planting of AV fall crops) to help overcome yield penalties incurred by energy focused AV designs.

New York↗
USGS2025

Sustainability trade-offs across modeled floating solar waterscapes of the Northeastern United States

Expansion of floating photovoltaic (FPV) solar systems provides a low-conflict renewable energy option to help mitigate climate change while sparing land, but potential sustainability trade-offs remain unquantified. We compare the technical potential of maximum FPV deployment to address the climate crisis with FPV-buildout scenarios that prioritize biodiversity and social values across waterscapes. FPV deployment on all technically suitable waterbodies (3.5% of available sites) in the Northeastern US could generate nearly a quarter of the region’s solar energy while offsetting all the land required for solar by 2050, but trade-offs, including maintenance of freshwater biodiversity and recreational benefits, exist. Avoidance of socioenvironmental interactions yields FPV-electricity generation potential equal to a 5% increase in regional solar generation while sparing water for biodiversity and social values, though opportunities for co-location make this a conservative estimate. Our framework extends technical potential assessments to holistically inform FPV siting and support diverse Sustainable Development Goals.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachuse↗
USGS2025

Ecologically informed solar enables a sustainable energy transition in U.S. croplands

United States (U.S.) croplands are ideal recipient environments for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy because they are flat and have a high solar resource. Perceived threats of solar to agriculture have led some stakeholders to suggest that croplands be exclusively used to produce food. However, 12 million hectares of U.S. croplands, an area about the size of New York State, are already dedicated to corn grown for ethanol (i.e., biofuel), an energy product that requires significantly more land than solar PV per unit energy. Ecosystem service benefits of an ecologically-informed approach to solar development (i.e., ecovoltaics), coupled with significant land-use advantages over corn ethanol, make solar an attractive solution for a sustainable energy transition in croplands. Here, we evaluated how the conversion of a small fraction of corn-ethanol croplands into ecovoltaic solar facilities might improve land-use efficiency of energy generation, enhance ecosystem services, and provide landscape diversification. Through spatial analyses, we determined that converting just 3.2% of land currently used for corn ethanol would increase the share of utility-scale solar energy in the U.S. from 3.9% to 13%. We also identified target locations where strategic conversion of corn ethanol to solar PV co-located with perennial vegetation could filter excess nutrients transported from adjacent farm runoff, diversify and connect agricultural landscapes, and provide local wildlife habitat. In contrast to the common perception of land-use competition and land scarcity in the energy transition, our findings highlight benefits of co-located energy landscapes that integrate fundamental principles of energy development and sustainable agroecosystems.

contiguous United States↗
USGS2025

Co-location of sheep grazing and solar energy production yields agrotechnological synergies

CONTEXT Agrivoltaics—the co-location of solar energy and agricultural production—may reduce land-use competition and boost revenues for landowners. Sheep grazing in solar facilities (i.e., solar grazing/agrivoltaic grazing systems) is increasingly common in agricultural areas. Solar grazing can provide land access to flock owners and support agricultural viability via payments for vegetation management. However, there is a need for more data on how co-location of sheep grazing and solar energy production affects flock health, stocking rates, and feedback loops for maintenance of vegetation in solar facilities across regions. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to better understand synergies and tradeoffs associated with agrivoltaic grazing systems by investigating applied grazing management questions as well as questions regarding agrotechnological co-benefits related to simultaneous flock health and vegetation management in solar facilities. METHODS We tested effects of sheep stocking rates (0 to 10 sheep per ha–1), site preparation (fallow vs. legume seed-mix planting), and microclimate (panel-shaded areas vs. panel interspaces) on herbage yield and nutritional quality, flock health and condition, and a vegetation management success index. We collected these data across two grazing seasons in an operational, 21.85-ha photovoltaic solar facility (18 MW) established on a previous old field in New York State, USA. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Shade from solar panels negatively affected herbage yield. We detected no significant differences in herbage yield or vegetation management outcomes between fallow and planted legume plots, suggesting that regrowth from native seed banks in solar facilities on previous old fields may be an economical alternative to seeding for sheep forage relative. Sheep stocking rates affected flock health and condition; we identified an optimal stocking rate of 8 sheep per ha–1 for achieving sufficient herbage yield and quality, maintaining flock health, and preventing vegetation overgrowth from shading solar panels at our study site. Solar grazing can yield an agrotechnological synergy supporting healthy forage, healthy sheep, and vegetation management in community-scale (i.e., <25 MW) solar facilities without mowing. In a well-managed solar grazing system, high herbage yield and quality promote high flock health and condition, and the healthy flock suppresses vegetation enough to prevent panel shading. SIGNIFICANCE Our study highlights the potential for sheep grazing in solar facilities to simultaneously benefit sheep and solar energy production systems. Solar grazing can present a “win-win” scenario for solar developers and sheep producers in the northeastern U.S.

New York↗
USGS2024

Immediate effect of floating solar energy deployment on greenhouse gas dynamics in ponds

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) solar energy offers promise for renewable electricity production that spares land for other societal benefits. FPV deployment may alter greenhouse gas (GHG) production and emissions from waterbodies by changing physical, chemical, and biological processes, which can have implications for the carbon cost of energy production with FPV. Here, we use an ecosystem-scale experiment to assess how GHG dynamics in ponds respond to installation of operationally representative FPV. Following FPV deployments of 70% array coverage, daily whole-pond GHG emissions increased by 26.8% on a carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO 2 -eq) basis, and dissolved oxygen availability rapidly decreased. Despite increased emissions following FPV deployment, FPV-derived GHG emissions from waterbodies are likely lower than landscape GHG emissions associated with terrestrial solar and hydropower production on a CO 2 -eq kWh –1 basis. Adaptive management strategies like bubbler installation may reduce the magnitude of FPV impacts on GHG and dissolved oxygen dynamics.

Environmental Science and Technology↗
USGS2024

Assessing the attractiveness of native wildflower species to bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) in the southeastern United States

Habitat loss, agricultural intensification, pesticide use, disease and climate change have contributed to the decline of numerous insect groups. Recent government initiatives have recognized the importance of supplementary wildflower plantings to support native bee populations, yet little information exists on the attractiveness of recommended plant species to bees. With the use of network analysis and generalized linear mixed models, we evaluated the attractiveness of 18 wildflower species belonging to 6 families (Apiaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae and Verbenaceae) planted in a randomized block design by conducting timed targeted sweep netting surveys. We also evaluated the floral preferences of four bee species ( Apis mellifera , Halictus poeyi/ligatus , Bombus griseocollis and Bombus impatiens ) to the planted wildflower species with the use of GLMs. We found that Asclepias tuberosa, Gaillardia pulchella and Verbena hastata attracted the greatest abundance, richness and diversity of native bees compared to the other wildflower species. Collectively, Asclepias tuberosa, Gaillardia pulchella and Verbena hastata attracted 89% of all bee taxa in the study, which exemplifies the importance of including them in a wildflower mixture to attract native bees. While several wildflower species attracted low abundance, richness and diversity of native bees such as Monarda fistulosa, Symphyotrichum pilosum and Eryngium yuccifolium , they are still ecologically important for attracting uncommon or specialist bee species and should be included in seed mixes for this reason. Solution . Our results highlight that each species of native wildflower varies in the abundance, richness and diversity of native bees they attract; this could be considered in the decision-making of landowners and land managers to promote wildflower plantings to reflect the needs of certain groups of bees of conservation interest.

Alabama↗
USGS2024

Mixed responses of tenebrionid beetles to solar energy development in the Mojave Desert

Solar energy development causes land-use change and habitat alteration that may affect desert ecosystems. Tenebrionid beetles have evolved to exploit desert environments and heavily contribute to ecosystem functionality in aridlands, yet their species-specific, ecological responses to solar energy development are unknown. Our objective was to elucidate effects of solar energy development decisions at a solar power facility (392 MW) on a tenebrionid beetle community in the Mojave Desert. Seven years post-construction, we used pitfall traps to collect tenebrionid beetles for one month in treatments representing variably intense site preparation practices and conservation measures, including blading (i.e., bulldozing), mowing, and establishment of undeveloped patches in solar fields, replicated across three power blocks comprising the facility and in undeveloped control sites surrounding the facility. Blading caused significant, deleterious effects on tenebrionid beetle abundance, species richness, and diversity. Ordination revealed apparent overlap of non-bladed treatments and controls, suggesting that intermediate levels of disturbance from less intensive solar energy development decisions may serve to minimize negative effects of solar energy development on tenebrionid communities. Anepsius delicatulus and Triorophus laevis , the two most commonly collected tenebrionids, were significantly more abundant in non-bladed treatments in the solar facility than in undeveloped controls; thus, solar facilities with minimized disturbance to vegetation may provide preferred habitat for certain tenebrionid species. Our results demonstrate the value of understanding variable responses of insects to solar energy development decisions in deserts to inform real-world adaptive management of natural resources during the renewable energy transition.

California↗
USGS2024

Predicting the effects of solar energy development on plants and wildlife in the Desert Southwest, United States

Utility-scale solar energy (USSE) is rapidly expanding and expected to compose the largest source of renewable-generated electricity in the United States and globally over the coming decades. Lands in the hot Desert Southwest (Chihuahuan, Mojave, Sonoran, and San Joaquin Deserts) are increasingly selected for USSE development because of their high solar irradiance. The Desert Southwest supports high biodiversity and provides many ecosystem services but is vulnerable to USSE disturbance and simultaneous stress from aridification and other growing land-use pressures. In this review, a framework is presented for predicting the effects of USSE development on plants and wildlife by linking disturbance types associated with USSE construction and operation to the traits and response strategies of species and guilds. Case studies from representative Desert Southwest species and guilds of conservation concern are used to: review known effects of USSE, predict unknown effects with the trait-based framework, and discuss mitigation strategies. This framework predicts that species with trait plasticity and broad ecological niches will be capable of exploiting USSE development, while species with specific habitat requirements and narrow niches will be more vulnerable. Opportunities for mitigation during development and operation that may lessen these effects are identified. This work is intended to inform USSE management decision-making and long-term planning, as well as encourage new research to test predicted effects and responses.

Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (RSER)↗
USGS2023

Effects of solar energy development on ants in the Mojave Desert

Land-use change from solar energy development may affect desert ecosystems and the soils, plants, and animals therein, yet our understanding of these interactions is nascent. With their ubiquity, criticality as ecosystem constituents, and sensitivity to environmental variation, ants may be useful study organisms for elucidating ecological effects of solar energy development in deserts. Our objectives were to disentangle the response of a desert ant community to solar energy development decisions and test the efficacy of ants as bioindicators at a solar power facility (392 MW) in the Mojave Desert, USA. We used pitfall traps to collect ants in treatments representing different solar energy development decisions, including variably intense site preparation practices: blading (i.e., bulldozing) and mowing, and establishment of undeveloped patches in solar fields, replicated across three power blocks comprising the facility and in undeveloped control sites surrounding the facility. We determined that ant abundance, species richness, Shannon Diversity Index, and functional richness were lower in bladed treatments than in all other treatments and controls. For most taxonomic and functional ant responses, we detected no difference between nonbladed treatments and controls; these results suggest that less intensive site preparation and increased spatial heterogeneity (i.e., undeveloped patches in solar fields) can reduce the negative effects of solar energy development on desert ants. However, our results indicate that ants may serve as useful bioindicators of the severity of anthropogenic disturbance from solar energy development in deserts, and indicator analysis signifies that solar energy infrastructure may negatively affect some species with high ecological value (e.g., harvester ants). Negative effects of solar energy development on ants can have significant implications for desert ecosystem function and integrity, but conservation-minded solar facility design and construction may lead to avoidance of “bottom-up” ecological ramifications of increased solar production during the renewable energy transition.

California↗
USGS2022

Prescribed fire and other fuel-reduction treatments alter ground spider assemblages in a Southern Appalachian hardwood forest

Prescribed burns and understory thinnings are forest management practices aimed at reducing fuel loads to lessen wildfire threat in the Southern Appalachians, USA. Spiders play a critical role in forest ecosystems by controlling insect populations and providing an important food source for vertebrates. We used pitfall and colored pan traps to investigate how abundance, species richness, and diversity of spiders differed among three fuel reduction treatments administered repeatedly over a 15-year period and untreated controls. Additionally, we examined how spiders responded to one round (before and after) of fuel reduction treatments. We established treatments within the 15-year period as follows: mechanical understory removal (twice; M), prescribed burning (four times; B), mechanical understory removal followed one year later by high-severity prescribed burns and three subsequent burns (MB), and untreated controls (C). Our study period (2014–2016) occurred after multiple prescribed burns and two rounds of mechanical understory removal had occurred. Salticidae and Lycosidae were the two most commonly collected spider families in Southern Appalachian hardwood forests. Generally, we found increased spider abundances within all fuel-reduction treatments compared to controls. Individual spider families and species showed variable responses to treatments, but abundance of several spider families was greater in one or more fuel-reduction treatments than in controls. Additionally, abundance of several spider families and hunting/web building guilds (webs built for hunting purposes or defense) exhibited yearly differences to the last round of fuel-reduction treatments. Overall, our results suggest that changes in the overstory and understory of a forest are important drivers of regional spider abundance and assemblages, and forest management practices that modify forest structure can dramatically alter spider abundance and richness, usually in a positive manner.

North Carolina↗