Apply fertilizer to vegetation to increase food availability

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    60%
  • Certainty
    30%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

  • Two studies evaluated the effects on mammals of applying fertilizer to vegetation to increase food availability. One study was in Canada and one was in the USA.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

BEHAVIOUR (2 STUDIES)

  • Use (2 studies): Two replicated, controlled studies, in Canada and the USA, found that applying fertilizer increased the use of vegetation by pronghorns and Rocky Mountain elk.

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 replicated, controlled study in 1977 on a sagebrush grassland site in Alberta, Canada (Barrett 1979) found that fertilizing sagebrush increased its usage by pronghorns Antilocapra americana. There were 21% more pronghorn faecal pellets on fertilized sagebrush than on unfertilized sagebrush (counts not presented). The proportion of sagebrush leaders browsed by proghorns in fertilized plots (34%) was higher than in unfertilized plots (18%). Twenty-two pronghorns were retained in a 256-ha enclosure from April 1975 to November 1977. Twelve plots, each 6 × 15 m, were fertilized, with 84–252 kg N/ha and 39–118 kg P/ha, on 29 April 1975. For each plot, two unfertilized control plots were established. In November 1977, pronghorn use of plots was assessed by faecal pellet counts and by assessing the proportion of sagebrush leaders that was browsed.

    Study and other actions tested
  2. A randomized, replicated, controlled study in 1971–1974 of a grassland in Washington, USA (Skovlin et al. 1983) found that applying fertilizer increased overwintering numbers of Rocky Mountain elk Cervus canadensis nelsoni the following winter, but not in subsequent winters. After one year, elk use was higher in fertilized areas (82 elk days/ha) than in unfertilized areas (55 elk days/ha). There was no difference in use by elk in the second (fertilized: 79; unfertilized: 90 elk days/ha) or third winters (fertilized: 45; unfertilized: 42 elk days/ha) following fertilizer application. Within each of six plots, one subplot was randomly assigned for fertilizer application and one was unfertilized. Subplots measured 3 ha. Fertilizer was applied once, in autumn 1971, at 56 kg N/ha. Elk pellets were counted in spring, to assess use of plots in the winters of 1971–1972, 1972–1973 and 1973–1974.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Littlewood, N.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K., Martin, P.A., Lockhart, S.L., Schoonover, R.F., Wilman, E., Bladon, A.J., Sainsbury, K.A., Pimm S. and Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Terrestrial Mammal Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for terrestrial mammals excluding bats and primates. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation
Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation - Published 2020

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

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