Site management for target mammal species carried out by field sport practitioners

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

Effectiveness

65%
Certainty

20%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Hunters and field sport participants may manage sites specifically to maintaining populations of their target mammal species. Management could include predator control and management of habitat features.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects of site management for a target mammal species being carried out by field sport practitioners. This study was in Ireland.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

Abundance (1 study): A replicated, site comparison study in the Republic of Ireland found that sites managed for the sport of coursing Irish hares held more of this species than did the wider countryside.

BEHAVIOUR (0 STUDIES)

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 in 2003–2007 on 17 improved farmland sites in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland (Reid et al. 2010) found that sites managed for the sport of coursing Irish hares Lepus timidus hibernicus held more of this species than did the wider countryside. Accounting for differences in habitat, hare densities on coursing sites (96 hares/km²) were higher than on wider countryside sites (31 hares/km²). Eight sites managed for hare coursing were compared with nine sites containing suitable hare habitat in the wider countryside. Management for hare coursing included predator control, poaching deterrence, retaining fine scale habitat features, such as rush patches, and administering veterinary attention while holding hares captive prior to coursing events. Hares flushed by lines of 20–30 beaters were counted, in September–December of 2003–2007.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Reid N., Magee C. & Montgomery W.I. (2010) Integrating field sports, hare population management and conservation. Acta Theriologica, 55, 61-71.

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

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

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