Mark the location of webs or caterpillars before mowing

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    not assessed
  • Certainty
    not assessed
  • Harms
    not assessed

Study locations

Key messages

  • One study evaluated the effects on butterflies and moths of marking the location of webs or caterpillars before mowing. This study was in Poland.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

 

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

  • Abundance (1 study): One replicated, before-and-after study in Poland reported that after marsh fritillary caterpillar webs were marked before mowing, the number of webs increased the following year.

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

  1. A replicated, before-and-after study in 2015–2016 in four wet meadows in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland (Błoński 2016) reported that after marsh fritillary Euphydryas aurinia caterpillar webs were marked prior to mowing, the number of webs increased the following year. Results were not tested for statistical significance. One year after marsh fritillary caterpillar webs were marked prior to mowing there were 17–46 webs/site, compared to 10–20 webs/site the previous year. In 2015, marsh fritillary caterpillar webs in four meadows were marked with flags so that they could be avoided during mowing (at one site trees and shrubs were also removed to restore habitat). In August 2015–2016, marsh fritillary caterpillar webs were surveyed at each site.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Bladon A.J., Bladon, E. K., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2023) Butterfly and Moth Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for butterflies and moths. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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Butterfly and Moth Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Butterfly and Moth Conservation
Butterfly and Moth Conservation

Butterfly and Moth Conservation - Published 2023

Butterfly and Moth Synopsis

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