Action

Action Synopsis: Bird Conservation About Actions

Add woody debris to forests

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    50%
  • Certainty
    29%
  • Harms
    0%

Key messages

A randomised, replicated, controlled study from Australia found that brown treecreeper numbers were higher in plots with large amounts of dead wood added, compared to control plots or those with less debris added.

 

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. In Gunbower State Forest, Victoria, Australia, a randomised, replicated, controlled study (MacNally et al. 2002) found that brown treecreeper Climacteris picumnus numbers were consistently higher in plots of red river gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis forest with coarse woody debris (aged fallen wood >10 cm in diameter) added to them, compared to control plots (1.5-2.2 birds/ha in plots with 40-80 Mg/ha or more of debris added vs. 0.6 and 0.4 birds/ha for 20 Mg/ha and no debris added treatments). Birds appeared not to discriminate between logs and tree crowns.

    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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