Take field corners out of management

Overall effectiveness category Evidence not assessed
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

not assessed
Certainty

not assessed
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Field corners can be taken out of management on both arable and livestock farms. This can involve either not managing or planting corners with grass.

See also ‘Plant grass buffer strips/margins around arable or pasture fields’.

Study locations

Key messages

A replicated site comparison study in the UK found that taking field corners out of management was positively correlated with grey partridge overwinter survival. However it had no effect on grey partridge brood size, the ratio of young to old birds or year-on-year density changes.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated site comparison study in 2004 to 2008 in England (Ewald et al. 2010) found that grey partridge Perdix perdix overwinter survival was positively correlated with taking field corners out of management, significantly so in 2007–2008. There were no relationships between taking field corners out of management and brood size, the ratio of young to old birds or year-on-year density changes. Spring and autumn counts of grey partridge were made at 1,031 sites across England as part of the Partridge Count Scheme.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Ewald J.A., Aebischer N.J., Richardson S.M., Grice P.V. & Cooke A.I. (2010) The effect of agri-environment schemes on grey partridges at the farm level in England. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 138, 55-63.

Please cite as:

Dicks, L.V., Ashpole, J.E., Dänhardt, J., James, K., Jönsson, A., Randall, N., Showler, D.A., Smith, R.K., Turpie, S., Williams, D.R. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Farmland Conservation. Pages 283-321 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Farmland Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Leave unharvested cereal headlands in arable fields Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Take field corners out of management Action Link	Evidence not assessed	1	Synopsis Link
Convert or revert arable land to permanent grassland Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	8	Synopsis Link