Create open patches or strips in permanent grassland

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

Effectiveness

20%
Certainty

19%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Open patches and strips in permanent grassland can be used, in a similar way to skylark plots (see ‘Create skylark plots’) to provide short, open swards for ground-nesting birds.

Key messages

A randomised, replicated and controlled study from the UK found that more Eurasian skylarks used fields with open strips in, but that variations in skylark numbers were too great to draw conclusions from this finding.

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 randomised, replicated and controlled trial on 14 fields in southern England in winter 1995-6 (Wakeham-Dawson & Aebischer 1998), found more Eurasian skylarks Alauda arvensis on seven fields that had open strips created in them, than in seven control fields, but the variation in numbers was so great that these differences were not significant (2-55 skylarks/km² on treated fields vs. 0 on controls). Open strips were created in a grid pattern, 25 m apart, using a tine-cultivator in November 1995. Experimental fields were still significantly more open in May 1996, but the swards had closed entirely by February 1997. This study is also described in ‘Revert arable land to permanent grassland’ and ‘Habitat restoration and creation’.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Wakeham-Dawson A. & Aebischer N.J. (1998) Factors determining winter densities of birds on environmentally sensitive area arable reversion grassland in southern England, with special reference to skylarks (Alauda arvensis). Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 70, 189-201.

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

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

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