In Styria (Austria) the highest located windpark within Europe was built between 1 800 and 1 900 m a.s.l. at a lek site of black grouse in 2002. After five years monitoring data show a strong decline of the local black grouse population. Collisions of the birds with the towers are recorded, disturbance because of wind park maintenance, infrastructure and tourism are difficult to evaluate. On another mountain ridge in Styria with two windparks and a skilift the same drastic population decline was registered. Within the province of Styria between 30 and 40 locations for windparks were discussed from different points of view (technology, energy, ecology). Locations for windpower plants in alpine regions overlap with lek sites of black grouse to a very high percentage.
Modern forestry may alter avian reproductive success indirectly through affecting predator-prey interactions. Here we evaluate the influence of road types on nest predation of ground-nesting birds in a highly fragmented forest area interspersed by a dense network of roads and forest paths, with one third of the area covered by a red-deer enclosure. Experimental nests (n = 276) resembling black grouse ( Tetrao tetrix) nests were proportionally installed along three types of roads discriminated by utility (road type, from frequently used to unused: tarred roads, gravel roads and forest paths) and inside/outside the red-deer enclosure. The nests were placed in couples, with one nest placed close to the road edge and the second placed inside the surrounding forest habitat to assess the “travel line” hypothesis. The “travel line” hypothesis was not supported because there was a similar predation rate among edge and interior nests. Even if predators can be discouraged along busy roads, type of road also did not affect nest predation. Nevertheless, nest predation inside the enclosure was significantly lower than in the surrounding, suggesting that frequent human disturbances in these habitats may have a repellent effect on predators of ground nests.