Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Shorten the period during which livestock can graze One replicated, controlled, before-and-after study in the UK found that shortening the period in which livestock can graze had mixed effects on heather, bilberry, crowberry, and grass cover. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the UK found that grazing in only winter or summer did not affect heather or grass height compared to year-round grazing. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1609https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1609Sun, 22 Oct 2017 10:22:35 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Apply herbicide to trees One replicated, controlled, before-and-after study in South Africa found that using herbicide to control trees increased plant diversity but did not increase shrub cover. One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that herbicide treatment of trees increased the abundance of common heather seedlings. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1629https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1629Sun, 22 Oct 2017 11:29:53 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Apply herbicide and sow seeds of shrubland plants to control grass One randomized, controlled study in the USA found that areas where herbicide was sprayed and seeds of shrubland species were sown had more shrub seedlings than areas that were not sprayed or sown with seeds. One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the USA found that spraying with herbicide and sowing seeds of shrubland species did not increase the cover of native plant species, but did increase the number of native plant species. One of two studies in the USA found that spraying with herbicide and sowing seeds of shrubland species reduced non-native grass cover. One study in the USA found that applying herbicide and sowing seeds of shrubland species did not reduced the cover of non-native grasses Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1644https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1644Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:30:11 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use grazing or alter livestock to control grass One replicated, controlled, before-and-after study in the Netherlands found that grazing to reduce grass cover had mixed effects on cover of common heather and cross-leaved heath. One replicated, controlled, before-and-after study in the Netherlands found that cover of wavy-hair grass increased and one before-and-after study in Spain found a reduction in grass height. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1646https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1646Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:34:04 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Strip turf to control grass One controlled study in the UK found that cutting and removing turf increased the number of heathland plants. The same study found that the presence of a small number of heathland plants increased, and that the presence of a small number of non-heathland plants decreased. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that presence of heather was similar in areas where turf was cut and areas that were mown or rotovated. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that the presence of wavy hair grass was similar in areas where turf was cut and those that were mown or rotovated. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1647https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1647Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:35:48 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Reduce numbers of large herbivores One before-and-after trial in the USA found that removing feral sheep, cattle and horses increased shrub cover and reduced grass cover. One replicated study in the UK found that reducing grazing pressure by red deer increased the cover and height of common heather. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1663https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1663Sun, 22 Oct 2017 15:06:18 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Mow shrubland to reduce impacts of pollutants One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that mowing to reduce the impact of nitrogen deposition did not alter shoot length of common heather or the number of purple moor grass seedlings. One controlled study in the UK found that mowing a heathland affected by nitrogen pollution did not alter the cover or shoot length of heather compared to areas where prescribed burning was used. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1669https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1669Sun, 22 Oct 2017 15:15:12 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Remove leaf litter One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that removing leaf litter did not alter the presence of heather. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1688https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1688Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:00:36 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add sulphur to soil One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that adding sulphur to the soil of a former agricultural field did not increase the number of heather seedlings in five of six cases. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1691https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1691Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:40:15 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add mulch and fertilizer to soil One randomized, controlled study in the USA found that adding mulch and fertilizer did not increase the seedling abundance of seven shrub species. The same study also reported no change in grass cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1694https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1694Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:48:55 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add manure to soil One replicated, randomized, controlled study in South Africa found that adding manure to the soil increased plant cover and the number of plant species. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1695https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1695Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:50:48 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Irrigate degraded shrublands One replicated, randomized, controlled study at two sites in USA found that temporary irrigation increased shrub cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1696https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1696Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:52:55 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Sow seeds and plant individual plants One replicated, controlled study in the USA found that planting California sagebrush and sowing of seeds did not increase cover of native plant species compared to sowing of seeds, or planting alone. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1700https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1700Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:14:02 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Build bird perches to encourage colonisation by plants One replicated, controlled study in South Africa found that building artificial bird perches increased the number of seeds at two sites, but no shrubs became established at either of these sites. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1702https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1702Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:24:30 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add mulch and fertilizer to soil (alongside planting/seeding) A randomized, controlled study in the USA found that adding mulch and fertilizer, followed by sowing of seeds increased the abundance of seedlings for a minority of shrub species. The same study found that adding mulch and fertilizer, followed by sowing seeds had no significant effect on grass cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1707https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1707Mon, 23 Oct 2017 12:01:19 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add gypsum to soil (alongside planting/seeding) One randomized, controlled study in South Africa found that adding gypsum to soils and sowing seeds increased survival of seedlings for one of two species Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1708https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1708Mon, 23 Oct 2017 12:05:42 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant seed balls A randomized, replicated, controlled study in the USA found that planting seed balls resulted in lower seedling numbers than sowing seed. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1712https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1712Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:30:52 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant/seed under established vegetation A replicated, randomized, controlled study in the USA found that sowing seed under established shrubs had mixed effects on blackbrush seedling emergence. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1714https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1714Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:53:01 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant shrubs in clusters A randomized, controlled study in South Africa found that when shrubs were planted in clumps more of them died than when they were planted alone. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1715https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1715Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:57:53 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Increase number of livestock and use prescribed burning to control trees One randomized, controlled, before-and-after study in Italy found that using prescribed burning and grazing to reduce tree cover reduced the cover of common heather and the basal area of trees. However, it did not alter the cover of purple moor grass. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1722https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1722Wed, 22 Nov 2017 14:37:45 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut and use prescribed burning to control grass One randomized, replicated, controlled, paired, before-and-after study in the UK found that burning and cutting to reduce the cover of purple moor grass reduced cover of common heather but did not reduce cover of purple moor grass. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1724https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1724Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:30:40 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use herbicide and prescribed burning to control grass One randomized, replicated, controlled, paired, before-and-after study in the UK found that burning and applying herbicide to reduce the cover of purple moor grass reduced cover of common heather but did not reduce cover of purple moor grass. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1725https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1725Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:31:55 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use ‘bracken bruiser’ to control bracken One randomized, replicated, controlled, before-and-after, paired study in the UK found that bracken bruising increased bracken cover, though bracken cover also increased in areas where bracken bruising was not done.There was no effect on the number of plant species or plant diversity. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1726https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1726Wed, 22 Nov 2017 17:04:59 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Disturb vegetation One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that vegetation disturbance did not increase the abundance or species richness of specialist plants but increased the abundance of generalist plants. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1727https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1727Thu, 23 Nov 2017 11:47:54 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add topsoil (alongside planting/seeding) One randomized, replicated, paired, controlled study in the USA found that addition of topsoil alongside sowing of seed increased the biomass of grasses but reduced the biomass of forbs in comparison to addition of topsoil alone. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1857https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1857Fri, 01 Dec 2017 14:27:24 +0000
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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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