Action

Action Synopsis: Bird Conservation About Actions

Increase crop diversity to benefit birds

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    20%
  • Certainty
    19%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

A before-and-after study in the UK found that more barnacle geese Branta leucopsis used a site after the amount of land used to grow cereals was reduced and other interventions were used.

 

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

  1. A before-and-after study in Dumfries, southern Scotland (Owens 1977), found that the number of barnacle geese Branta leucopsis on a mixed agricultural site and nature reserve increased from 3,200 in 1970 to 6,000 in 1975 following a reduction in the amount of cereals grown on arable land. From 1970 onwards, only 16.7% of the 50 ha of arable land was used for cereals. In addition, all cereals were undersown (see ‘Undersow spring cereals’) and no stock were allowed to graze on the arable land after November (see ‘Reduce grazing intensity on permanent grassland’).

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 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

Bird Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation
What Works 2021 cover

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

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