Take field corners out of management

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

Effectiveness

30%
Certainty

15%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Field corners can be taken out of management on both arable and livestock farms. This can either involve simply not managing or planting corners with grass (see also ‘Plant grass buffer strips’).

Study locations

Key messages

A replicated study in the UK found that overwinter survival of grey partridge Perdix perdix was higher where field corners were taken out of management than on other sites for one of three winters. There was no relationship with the intervention and brood size, the ratio of young to old birds or density changes.

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 replicated site comparison study on 1,031 agricultural sites across England in 2004-8 (Ewald et al. 2010) found that grey partridge Perdix perdix overwinter survival was positively correlated with taking field corners out of management, significantly so in 2007-8. There were no relationships with brood size, the ratio of young to old birds or year-on-year density changes. This study describes the effects of several other interventions, discussed in the relevant sections.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Ewald J.A., Aebischer N.J., Richardson S.M., Grice P.V. & Cooke A.I. (2010) The effect of agri-environment schemes on grey partridges at the farm level in England. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 138, 55-63.

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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