Use buffer zones to reduce the impact of invasive plant control

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

Effectiveness

40%
Certainty

10%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Control efforts for invasive or problematic species can be very destructive and if not performed carefully may damage native species. We captured one study attempting to reduce the impact of invasive water plant control on snail kite Rostrhamus sociabilis nests, which are built above water in cattail Typha spp. and bulrush Scripus validus and are therefore vulnerable to herbicide applications, which can kill supporting vegetation, collapsing the nests.

Study locations

Key messages

A study from the USA found that having buffer zones around snail kite Rostrhamus sociabilis nests, where no herbicides were sprayed, resulted in no nests being lost during a vegetation control programme.

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 study from March-July in 1988 in one wetland area in Florida, USA (Rodgers 1998), found that creating ‘no-spray’ buffer zones extending 68 m around the perimeter of kite colonies and 23-46 m around individual nests resulted in none of the 19 snail kite nests monitored being adversely affected by an aquatic plant control program: nests averaged 0.73 fledglings/nest and no nests collapsed. This fledging rate was similar to the overall rate of 0.74 fledglings/nest recorded in other regions of Lake Okeechobee during 1987–1993. Buffer zones were used in the breeding season, whilst water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes and water lettuce Pistia stratiotes control measures were ongoing. The initiative was expanded to other lakes supporting kite nests in March 1989.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Rodgers J.A. (1998) Fate of artificially supported snail kite Rostrhamus sociabilis nests in central Florida, U.S.A. Bird Conservation International, 8.

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

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Use buffer zones to reduce the impact of invasive plant control Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Control or remove habitat-altering mammals Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	5	Synopsis Link
Reduce adverse habitat alterations by excluding problematic terrestrial species Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	4	Synopsis Link