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Introduction

The Conservation Evidence Journal shares the global experience of those on the front line of conservation practice about the effectiveness of conservation actions. All papers include monitoring of the effects of the intervention and are written by, or in partnership with, those who did the conservation work. We encourage articles from anywhere around the world on all aspects of species and habitat management such as habitat creation, habitat restoration, translocations, reintroductions, invasive species control, changing attitudes and education.

The Conservation Evidence Journal publishes peer-reviewed papers throughout the year collected in an annual Volume. We publish Special Issues and collate Collections on specific topics, such as management of particular groups of species or habitats. To search for papers on a specific topic within the journal select Advanced search, enter your keyword(s) and within the Source box type: "conservation evidence". This will take you to a list of actions that contain Conservation Evidence Journal papers. In order to see the list of individual Conservation Evidence Journal papers on the topic, please click on 'You can also search Individual Studies' at the top of this page.

Copyright is retained by the author(s). All papers published in the Conservation Evidence Journal are open access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The Conservation Evidence Journal is a separate publication within the Conservation Evidence project. Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity. You can search for summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions for species groups and habitats using our online database.

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Latest papers

Reduced mowing frequencies increase pollinator abundance in urban lawns in the UK

Morrison M.A., Bright A. & Brown M.J.F. (2025), 22, 1-8

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Insect pollinators are currently declining, in part due to the loss of habitats and foraging resources. However, one potential source of refuge is lawns in urban areas and the floral resources within them. Lawns represent a substantial proportion of urban green space and, if managed with pollinators in mind, could become a major component of a matrix of foraging resources. This study used Ministry of Justice prison and court sites as a case study for the management of urban lawn space. Sites contained four patches, one control patch mown as normal every two weeks and then three patches mown either every four, six or 12 weeks. Weekly pollinator and flowering plant surveys were completed at each site over 12 weeks from June – August 2023. We found that patches with less frequent mowing (every six and 12 weeks) had a significantly higher abundance of pollinators, >170% higher than the typically used mowing frequency of every two weeks. Lawns left unmown for 12 weeks also had higher floral species richness and flower cover than lawns mown every two weeks. Consequently, we recommend that lawns within urban and suburban building complexes are mown at an interval of at least six, but ideally 12, weeks to improve floral resources and pollinator abundance.

https://conservationevidencejournal.com/reference/pdf/12801