Action

Action Synopsis: Bird Conservation About Actions

Maintain upland heath/moor

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    30%
  • Certainty
    15%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

A literature review from the UK found that agri-environment guidelines on moorland grazing were leading to increased bird populations in one region. There were localised problems with overgrazing, burning and scrub encroachment.

 

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. A 2009 literature review of agri-environment schemes in England (Natural England 2009) found studies that concluded that Environmentally Sensitive Area management prescriptions were having positive effects on moorland bird populations in Dartmoor Environmentally Sensitive Areas, UK. However, a study warned that localised problems such as overgrazing, burning or scrub encroachment were negatively affecting species such as tree pipit Anthus trivialis, whinchat Saxicola rubetra and ring ouzel Turdus torquatus. This review also examines several other interventions, discussed in the relevant sections.

    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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