| The global benefits of renewable energy come at a local cost to ecosystems and communities. For example, wind energy developments have the potential to kill birds and bats and fragment habitat for local terrestrial vertebrates. If sensitive species are extirpated, patterns of biotic interactions may be altered at wind farms. In this study, I address the effects of wind farms on local wildlife by comparing abundance and richness of target species known to prey upon a ubiquitous lizard, Uta stansburiana, at similar sites with and without turbines in the San Gorgonio Pass in California. I quantify wariness, survival rates, and population sizes of U. stansburiana to identify whether changes in wind farm predator communities affect prey populations in ecologically important ways. Analyses indicated that wind farms were less diverse; turbine presence significantly explained observed predator assemblage patterns. For U. stansburiana, I found no difference in behavior or demographic parameters between site types, implying similar levels of apparent predation. My results suggest that small vertebrate prey may not be affected directly by habitat loss, nor by higher trophic level changes at wind energy developments. Some predators were less abundant at wind farms and further research is needed to better understand the factors driving these changes. |