Conservation Evidence: Evidence Data

Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Make direct payments per clutch for farmland birds Two replicated and controlled studies from the Netherlands found limited evidence for increased wading bird populations on farms with per-clutch payments. One study found no population effects over three years. The second found slightly higher breeding densities of wading birds, but not higher overall numbers. A replicated and controlled study found higher hatching success of northern lapwing and black-tailed godwit on farms with payment schemes than control farms. A replicated site comparison from the Netherlands that looked at the effects of per-clutch payments in combination with postponed agricultural activities found more birds bred on 12.5 ha plots under the per-clutch payment and postponed agricultural activities scheme but found no differences at the field-scale. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F146https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F146Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:46:56 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide refuges during harvest or mowing Three studies examined the effect of providing refuges for birds during harvest or mowing in France and the UK. One replicated study in France found evidence that providing refuges during mowing reduced contact between mowing machinery and unfledged quail and corncrakes. However one replicated controlled study and a review from the UK found that Eurasian skylark did not use nesting refuges more than other areas. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F147https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F147Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:49:58 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant cereals for whole crop silage Two studies (one review, one replicated trial) from the UK investigated the effects of cereal-based whole crop silage. One replicated study found that cereal-based whole crop silage fields were used more by farmland birds and supported a higher abundance of seed-eating songbirds, swallows and martins than other crop types. The same study also found that important bird food plants were more abundant in cereals than other crop types and more invertebrates were found in wheat, barley and grass silage fields compared to maize. A review found one study in which cereal-based whole crop silage fields were avoided by seed-eating birds during winter, but used as much as a control during summer. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F149https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F149Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:59:01 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use supplementary feeding to reduce predation A controlled cross-over experiment from the UK found that there was no difference in grouse adult survival or productivity when supplementary food was provided to hen harrier Circus cyaneus compared to in control areas. This study and another from the USA that used artificial nests found that nest predation rates were reduced in areas when supplementary food was provided to predators. A second study from the USA found no such effect. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F417https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F417Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:42:26 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Reduce inter-specific competition for nest sites of songbirds by removing competitor species Two studies from Australia found increases in bird populations and species richness after the control of noisy miners Manorina melanocephala – a native but hyper-competitive species. A controlled study from Italy found that blue tits Parus caeruleus nested in more nest boxes when hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius were excluded from nest boxes over winter. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F424https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F424Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:28:29 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Remove eggs from wild nests to increase reproductive output A replicated study from Mauritius found that harvesting entire clutches appeared to increase Mauritius kestrels Falco punctatus productivity more effectively than removing individual eggs as they were laid. A replicated study over 30 years in Canada (Kuyt 1996) found that wild whooping cranes Grus americana reproductive success was higher for nests with one or two eggs removed than for control nests. A single study from the USA found that removing bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus eggs from wild nests for hand-rearing did not appear to greatly affect the wild population. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F477https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F477Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:27:46 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide artificial nesting sites for wildfowl using artificial/floating islands Two studies from North America found that a variety of wildfowl used artificial islands and floating rafts, and had high (70–80%) nesting success. A replicated study from across the UK found that wildfowl preferentially nested on well vegetated islands, compared to bare ones. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F483https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F483Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:49:16 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide nesting habitat for birds that is safe from extreme weather A small from New Zealand found Chatham Island oystercatchers Haematopus chathamensis used raised nest platforms made from car tyres (designed to raise nests above the level of storm surges). The success of these nests is not reported. Two replicated, controlled studies from the USA found that the nesting success of terns and waders was no higher on specially raised areas of nesting substrate, compared to unraised areas, with one study finding that a similar proportion of nests were lost to flooding in raised and unraised areas. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F504https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F504Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:55:55 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Foster eggs or chicks of waders with wild conspecifics Two small trials in North America found that piping plovers Charadrius melodus accepted chicks introduced into their broods, although in one case the chick died later the same day. A replicated study from New Zealand found that survival of fostered black stilts Himantopus novasezelandiae was higher for birds fostered to conspecifics rather than a closely related species. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F508https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F508Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:30:39 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Foster eggs or chicks of woodpeckers with wild conspecifics Three studies from the USA found that red-cockaded woodpecker Picoides borealis chicks fostered to conspecifics had high fledging rates. One small study found that fostered chicks survived better than chicks translocated with their parents. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F514https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F514Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:29:20 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide supplementary food for auks to increase reproductive success Two replicated and controlled studies from the UK found that Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica chicks provided with supplementary food were significantly heavier than control chicks. One study found differences between populations, suggesting some are more food-limited than others. The two UK studies found that fed chicks fledged at the same time as controls, whilst a randomised, replicated and controlled study from Canada found that tufted puffin Fratercula cirrhata chicks supplied with supplementary food fledged later than controls. The Canadian study found that fed chicks had faster growth by some, but not all, metrics. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F524https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F524Sat, 08 Sep 2012 13:32:31 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide supplementary food for parrots to increase reproductive success Two studies from New Zealand found some evidence that providing supplementary food for kakapos Strigopus habroptilus increased the number of breeding attempts made, whilst a third study found that birds provided with specially-formulated pellets appeared to have larger clutches than those fed on nuts. One study found no evidence that providing food increased the number of nesting attempts. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F536https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F536Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:43:26 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide supplementary food for vultures to increase adult survival A before-and-after study from Spain found a large increase in griffon vulture Gyps fulvus population in the study area following multiple interventions including supplementary feeding. Two studies from the USA and Israel found that Californian condors Gymnogyps californianus and Egyptian vultures Neophron percnopterus fed on many of the carcasses provided for them. The Egyptian vultures were sometimes dominated by larger species at a feeding station supplied twice a month, but not at one supplied every day. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F545https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F545Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:10:04 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide supplementary food for woodpeckers to increase adult survival One replicated, controlled study from the USA found that 12 female downy woodpeckers Picoides pubescens supplied with supplementary food had higher nutritional statuses than unfed birds. However, two analyses of a replicated, controlled study of 378 downy woodpeckers from the USA found that they did not have higher survival rates or nutritional statuses than unfed birds. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F551https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F551Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:42:41 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Can supplementary feeding increase predation or parasitism? A replicated, controlled study in the USA found that providing seeds in predictable areas did not increase predation on seven species of songbird. A replicated and controlled trial in Spain found higher levels of potentially dangerous gut microflora when fed on livestock carrion, compared to those fed on wild rabbits. A replicated study in Spain found higher levels of predation on artificial nests close to carcasses provided for vultures. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F554https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F554Sat, 22 Sep 2012 20:37:07 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Translocate petrels and shearwatersTwo studies from Australia and one from New Zealand found that colonies of burrow-nesting Procellariiformes were successfully established on two islands, and in uninhabited areas of another following the translocation and hand-rearing of chicks. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F568https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F568Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:54:24 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Translocate rails Three reviews of two translocation programmes in the Seychelles and New Zealand found high survival amongst translocated rails. All studies found that translocated birds bred successfully, although one found that translocated takahe Porphyrio hochstetteri had lower reproductive success than birds in the source population. The other New Zealand study found no differences in breeding success between recently and formerly translocated takahe. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F573https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F573Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:58:55 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use captive breeding to increase or maintain populations of songbirds A replicated study from Australia and two small studies from the USA found that three species of songbird were successfully bred in captivity. Four out of five pairs of wild-bred, hand-reared puaiohi, Myadestes palmeri, formed pairs and laid a total of 39 eggs in 1998 and a breeding population of helmeted honeyeaters, Lichenostomus melanops cassidix, was successfully established through a breeding programme. Only one pair of loggerhead shrikes, Lanius ludovicianus, formed pairs from eight wild birds caught and their first clutch died. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F598https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F598Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:24:35 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Can captive breeding have deleterious effects on individual fitness? Three studies of wild populations, wild and captive populations and museum specimens, one replicated, found evidence for potentially deleterious physiological or genetic changes due to captive breeding. These studies did not investigate fitness. A study of a wild Mauritius kestrel, Falco punctatus, population derived totally from captive individuals found high inbreeding and a loss of genetic diversity, but this was caused more by the very low population size (four wild birds) than by captivity per se. The museum-based study found reduced relative brain volume in captive wildfowl, compared with wild birds, whilst a comparison of wild and captive populations of white-headed ducks Oxyura leucocephala found lower genetic diversity in captive populations. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F599https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F599Sat, 13 Oct 2012 16:00:16 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Freeze semen for use in artificial insemination A small controlled trial in the USA found that using frozen semen for artificial insemination resulted in lower fertility in falcons, and a second small trial from the USA found that an American kestrel Falco sparverius had only 33% fertility when inseminated with frozen semen. A small trial from the USA found that fertility rates were highest when semen contained 10% dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO, a cryoprotectant), compared to semen containing 6% or 8% DMSO. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F602https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F602Sat, 13 Oct 2012 16:27:01 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Artificially incubate and hand-rear wildfowl in captivity Two replicated studies in Canada and India found high success rates for hand-rearing buffleheads Bucephala albeola and bar-headed geese Anser indicus in captivity. Eggs were artificially incubated or incubated under foster parents. A replicated, controlled study in England found that Hawaiian geese (nene) Branta sandvicensis chicks showed less well-adapted behaviours if they were raised without parental contact, compared to chicks raised by parents. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F606https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F606Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:11:00 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use puppets to increase the survival or growth of hand-reared chicksThree replicated studies from the USA and Saudi Arabia found that corvids and bustards raised using puppets did not have higher survival, dispersal or growth than conventionally hand-reared chicks. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F617https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F617Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:43:41 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Release captive-bred individuals into the wild to restore or augment wild populations of rails One replicated study from Australia found that released Lord Howe Island woodhens Tricholimnas sylvestris successfully bred in the wild, re-establishing a wild population. A replicated study from the UK found high survival of released corncrake Crex crex in the first summer (although no data were available on overwinter survival or breeding). A replicated study in New Zealand found very low survival of North Island weka Gallirallus australis greyi following release, mainly due to predation by invasive mammals. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F620https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F620Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:58:52 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Release birds in ‘coveys’ A replicated study in Saudi Arabia found that houbara bustard Chlamydotis undulata macqueenii survival was low when chicks were released in coveys with flightless females. A review of cackling goose Branta hutchinsii conservation and a replicated study in England found that geese and grey partridge Perdix perdix releases were more successful for birds released in coveys than for young birds released on their own or adults released in pairs. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F635https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F635Sun, 14 Oct 2012 23:35:50 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Provide supplementary food after release Three studies from found that malleefowl Leipoa ocellata, Andean condors Vultur gryphus and pink pigeons Nesoenas mayeri used supplementary food when it was provided after release. A replicated, controlled study from Australia found that malleefowl had higher survival when supplied with supplementary food. A study in Peru found that supplementary food could be used to increase the foraging range of condors after release, or to guide them back to suitable feeding areas. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F639https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F639Sun, 14 Oct 2012 23:54:01 +0100