The potential conservation value of unmowed powerline strips for native bees
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Published source details
Russell K.N., Ikerd H. & Droege S. (2005) The potential conservation value of unmowed powerline strips for native bees. Biological Conservation, 124, 133-148.
Published source details Russell K.N., Ikerd H. & Droege S. (2005) The potential conservation value of unmowed powerline strips for native bees. Biological Conservation, 124, 133-148.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Manage land under power lines for wildlife Action Link |
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Manage land under power lines for wildlife
Power line rights-of-way are unfarmed and provide potentially valuable linear strips of habitat for bees and other wildlife. In the USA, they are periodically cleared of vegetation by mowing and/or herbicide treatment. A more cost-effective management method involves removing trees and other tall vegetation, mechanically and with selective herbicides, but retaining a dense scrub. One replicated trial under eight power line strips on a Wildlife Refuge in Maryland, USA (Russell et al. 2005) found significantly more bee species under power lines managed this way (32.5 bee species/site on average) than in equivalent areas of annually mown grassland on the Refuge, representing conventional power line management (23.2 species/site). There was no significant difference between power line scrub and mown grassland in the abundance of bees.
Output references
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