Action

Action Synopsis: Bird Conservation About Actions

Increase water turbidity to reduce fish predation by birds

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    50%
  • Certainty
    23%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

A randomised trial in France found that little egret Egretta garzetta foraging efficiency was lower in turbid water than clear.

 

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 randomised trial in southern France found that little egret Egretta garzetta foraging efficiency (capture rate) declined significantly in turbid water, under captive conditions (Cezilly 1992). A 3 x 6 m pool (water depth 10 cm) was used. Nine adult egrets either foraged alone or in threes. Three trials were undertaken using clear or turbid water, with three densities of prey i.e. mosquito fish Gambusia affinis (1, 2, and 4/m²). Treatment order was randomised and trials lasted 5 min. Turbid water was created by adding clay (Secchi disc lost from view at 10 cm depth).

    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

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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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