Use herbicide and remove leaf litter to control bracken

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

27%
Certainty

12%
Harms

2%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Applying herbicide to bracken may help to control it and removing leaf litter may help to create bare ground, thus allowing heathland plants to become established.

Study locations

Key messages

One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that using herbicide and removing leaf litter did not increase total plant biomass after eight years. The same study found that for three of six years, heather biomass was higher in areas where herbicide was sprayed and leaf litter was removed than in areas that were sprayed with herbicide.

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 randomized, controlled study in 1978–1986 in a heathland in Suffolk, UK (Lowday & Marrs 1992) found that the application of herbicide to bracken Pteridium aquilinium followed by the removal of leaf litter and did not increase total plant biomass after eight years, but increased the biomass of heather Calluna vulgaris in three of six years. In August 1978 all plots were sprayed with the herbicide asulam. After herbicide application, leaf litter was removed in four 12 m² plots and in four plots leaf litter was not removed. Vegetation was visually estimated annually in each plot June or July in 1979-1986.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Lowday J.E. & Marrs R.H. (1992) Control of bracken and restoration of heathland. III. Bracken litter disturbance and heathland restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology, 29, 212-217.

Please cite as:

Martin, P.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Shrubland and Heathland Conservation. Pages 483-525 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:

Shrubland and Heathland Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Use ‘bracken bruiser’ to control bracken Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Use herbicide and remove leaf litter to control bracken Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Use herbicide and grazing to control bracken Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link