Conservation Evidence: Evidence Data

Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Change type of livestock Two replicated, before-and-after studies and one controlled study in Spain and the UK found changing the type of livestock led to mixed effects on shrub cover. However, in two of these studies changing the type of livestock reduced the cover of herbaceous species. One replicated, controlled, before-and-after study in the UK found that grazing with both cattle and sheep, as opposed to grazing with sheep, reduced cover of purple moor grass, but had no effect on four other plant species. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1608https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1608Sun, 22 Oct 2017 10:05:25 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Reinstate the use of traditional burning practices One before and after study in the UK found that prescribed burning initially decreased the cover of most plant species, but that their cover subsequently increased. A systematic review of five studies from the UK found that prescribed burning did not alter species diversity. A replicated, controlled study in the UK found that regeneration of heather was similar in cut and burned areas. A systematic review of five studies, from Europe found that prescribed burning did not alter grass cover relative to heather cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1625https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1625Sun, 22 Oct 2017 10:52:02 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use cutting/mowing to mimic grazing One systematic review of three studies in lowland heathland in North Western Europe found that mowing did not alter heather abundance relative to grass abundance. A site comparison in Italy found that mowing increased heather cover. Two replicated, randomized, before-and-after trials in Spain (one of which was controlled) found that using cutting to mimic grazing reduced heather cover. One replicated, randomized, controlled, before-and-after trial in Spain found that cutting increased the number of plant species. However, a replicated, randomized, before-and-after trial found that the number of plant species only increased in a minority of cases. One replicated, randomized, before-and-after trial in Spain found that cutting to mimic grazing increased grass cover. A site comparison in Italy found that mowing increased grass cover. One site comparison study in Italy found a reduction in tree cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1627https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1627Sun, 22 Oct 2017 10:59:28 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut trees One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that cutting birch trees increased density of heather seedlings but not that of mature common heather plants. One replicated, controlled study in South Africa found that cutting non-native trees increased herbaceous plant cover but did not increase cover of native woody plants. One site comparison study in South Africa found that cutting non-native Acacia trees reduced shrub and tree cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1630https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1630Sun, 22 Oct 2017 11:44:14 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut trees and apply herbicide One controlled study in the UK found that cutting trees and applying herbicide increased the abundance of heather seedlings. However, one replicated, controlled study in the UK found that cutting silver birch trees and applying herbicide did not alter cover of common heather when compared to cutting alone. Two controlled studies (one of which was a before-and-after study) in South Africa found that cutting of trees and applying herbicide did not increase shrub cover. Two controlled studies in South Africa found that cutting trees and applying herbicide increased the total number of plant species and plant diversity. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that cutting and applying herbicide reduced cover of silver birch trees. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1636https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1636Sun, 22 Oct 2017 12:04:01 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut trees and use prescribed burning One replicated, before-and-after trial in the USA found that cutting western juniper trees and using prescribed burning increased the cover of herbaceous plants. One replicated, randomized, controlled, before-and-after trial in the USA found that cutting western juniper trees and using prescribed burning increased cover of herbaceous plants but had no effect on the cover of most shrubs. One controlled study in South Africa found that cutting followed by prescribed burning reduced the cover of woody plants but did not alter herbaceous cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1637https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1637Sun, 22 Oct 2017 12:07:21 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut/mow to control grass One controlled study in the UK found that mowing increased the number of heathland plants in one of two sites. The same study found that the presence of a small minority of heathland plants increased, but the presence of non-heathland plants did not change. Three replicated, controlled studies in the UK and the USA found that cutting to control grass did not alter cover of common heather or shrub seedling abundance. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that cutting to control purple moor grass reduced vegetation height, had mixed effects on purple moor grass cover and the number of plant species, and did not alter cover of common heather. Two randomized, controlled studies in the USA found that mowing did not increase the cover of native forb species. Both studies found that mowing reduced grass cover but in one of these studies grass cover recovered over time. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that mowing did not alter the abundance of wavy hair grass relative to rotovating or cutting turf. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1638https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1638Sun, 22 Oct 2017 12:12:02 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut/mow to control grass and sow seed of shrubland plants One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the USA found that the biomass of sagebrush plants in areas where grass was cut and seeds sown did not differ from areas where grass was not cut, but seeds were sown. One randomized controlled study in the USA found that cutting grass and sowing seeds increased shrub seedling abundance and reduced grass cover One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the USA found that sowing seeds and mowing did not change the cover of non-native plants or the number of native plant species. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1639https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1639Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:11:17 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Cut and apply herbicide to control bracken One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that cutting and applying herbicide to control bracken did not alter heather biomass. One randomized, controlled, before-and-after trial in Norway found that cutting and applying herbicide increased heather cover. One randomized, replicated, controlled, paired study in the UK found that cutting and using herbicide had no significant effect on the cover of seven plant species. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the UK found that cutting bracken followed by applying herbicide increased plant species richness when compared with applying herbicide followed by cutting. Three randomized, controlled studies (one also a before-and-after trial, and one of which was a paired study) in the UK and Norway found that cutting and applying herbicide reduced bracken biomass or cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1654https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1654Sun, 22 Oct 2017 14:42:14 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Burn shrublands to reduce impacts of pollutants One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that prescribed burning to reduce the impact of nitrogen deposition did not alter the shoot length of common heather or the number of purple moor grass seedlings compared to mowing. A controlled study in the UK found that burning to reduce the concentration of pollutants in a heathland affected by nitrogen pollution did not alter the cover or shoot length of heather relative to areas that were mowed. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1670https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1670Sun, 22 Oct 2017 15:17:05 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add topsoil Two randomized, controlled studies in the UK found that the addition of topsoil increased the cover or abundance of heathland plant species. One replicated, site comparison in Spain found an increase in the abundance of woody plants. One randomized, controlled study in the UK found an increase in the number of seedlings for a majority of heathland plants. One controlled study in Namibia found that addition of topsoil increased plant cover and the number of plant species, but that these were lower than at a nearby undisturbed site. One randomized, controlled study in the UK found an increase in the cover of forbs but a reduction in the cover of grasses. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1686https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1686Mon, 23 Oct 2017 09:45:51 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use erosion blankets/mats to aid plant establishment One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the USA found that using an erosion control blanket increased the height of two shrub species. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the USA did not find an increase in the number of shrub species, but one controlled study in China did find an increase in plant diversity following the use of erosion control blankets. The same study found an increase in plant biomass and cover. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1692https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1692Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:42:07 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant individual plants One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the USA found that planting California sagebrush plants did not increase the cover of native plant species compared to sowing of seeds or a combination of planting and sowing seeds. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in South Africa found that planting Brownanthus pseudoschlichtianus plants increased plant cover, but not the number of plant species. One study in the USA found that a majority of planted plants survived after one year. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1697https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1697Mon, 23 Oct 2017 10:55:44 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Spread clippings One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that the addition of shoots and seeds of heathland plants did not increase the abundance of mature plants for half of plant species. One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that the frequency of heather plants was not significantly different in areas where heather clippings had been spread and areas where they were not spread. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the UK found an increase in the number of heather seedlings, but not of other heathland species. One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that the addition of shoots and seeds increased the number of seedlings for a minority of species. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in South Africa found that plant cover and the number of plant species did not differ significantly between areas where branches had been spread and those where branches had not been spread. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1701https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1701Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:16:13 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant turf Two randomized, controlled studies in the UK found that planting turf from intact heathland sites increased the abundance or cover of heathland species. One of these studies also found that planting turf increased the seedling abundance for a majority of heathland plant species. One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that planting turf increased forb cover, and reduced grass cover. One randomized, replicated, controlled study in Iceland found that planting large turves from intact heathland sites increased the number of plant species, but smaller turves did not. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1703https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1703Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:28:15 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add fertilizer to soil (alongside planting/seeding) A replicated, controlled study in Iceland found that adding fertilizer and sowing seeds increased cover of shrubs and trees in a majority of cases. The same study showed an increase in vegetation cover in two of three cases. One controlled study in the USA found that adding fertilizer increased the biomass of four-wing saltbush in a majority of cases. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1704https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1704Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:35:39 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add peat to soil (alongside planting/seeding) One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the UK found that adding peat to soil and sowing seed increased the cover of common heather in the majority of cases, compared to seeding alone. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the UK found that adding peat to soil and sowing seed increased the density of heather seedlings, and led to larger heather plants than seeding alone, but that no seedlings survived after two years. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1705https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1705Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:54:26 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add mulch to soil (alongside planting/seeding) A replicated, randomized, controlled study in the USA found that using mulch did not increase the number of shrubs, or the height of California sagebrush. A randomized, controlled study in South Africa found that applying mulch and sowing seeds increased the number of seedlings, but not their survival. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1706https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1706Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:59:05 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add sulphur to soil (alongside planting/seeding) A randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that adding sulphur to soil alongside sowing seeds did not increase heather cover in a majority of cases. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that adding sulphur and spreading heathland clippings had mixed effects on cover of common heather, perennial rye-grass, and common bent. One randomized, controlled study in the UK found that adding sulphur to soil alongside planting of heather seedlings increased their survival, though after two years survival was very low. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1710https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1710Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:17:21 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Strip/disturb topsoil (alongside planting/seeding) Two replicated, controlled studies in the UK found that removal of topsoil and addition seed/clippings increased cover of heathland plants or cover of heather and gorse. One controlled study in the UK found that soil disturbance using a rotovator and spreading clippings of heathland plants (alongside mowing) increased the number of heathland plants. One replicated, controlled study in the UK found that stripping the surface layers of soil and adding seed reduced the cover of perennial rye-grass. One randomized, replicated, paired, controlled study in the UK found that removal of topsoil and addition of the clippings of heathland plants did not alter the cover of annual grasses but led to a decrease in cover of perennial grasses. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1711https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1711Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:29:32 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Plant/sow seeds of nurse plants alongside focal plants A randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that sowing seeds of nurse plants and heathland plants did not increase the cover of common heather. One replicated, randomized, controlled study in the USA found that sowing seeds of nurse plants and California sagebrush seeds together reduced survival of shrubs in more than half of cases. The same study found that California sagebrush biomass was also reduced when its seeds were sown with those of nurse plants. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1713https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1713Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:44:40 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Add root associated bacteria/fungi to introduced plants Two controlled studies (one of which was randomized) in Spain found that adding rhizobacteria to soil increased the biomass of shrubs. One of these studies also found an increase in shrub height. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1716https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1716Mon, 23 Oct 2017 14:00:24 +0100Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use prescribed burning to control trees One randomized, replicated, controlled, before-and-after trial in the USA found that burning to control trees did not change cover of two of three grass species. One randomized, controlled study in Italy found that prescribed burning to control trees reduced cover of common heather, increased cover of purple moor grass, and had mixed effects on the basal area of trees. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1721https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1721Wed, 22 Nov 2017 12:48:12 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Use prescribed burning to control grass One replicated controlled, paired, before-and-after study in the UK found that prescribed burning to reduce the cover of purple moor grass, did not reduce its cover but did reduce the cover of common heather. One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that prescribed burning initially reduced vegetation height, but this recovered over time. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1723https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1723Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:27:49 +0000Collected Evidence: Collected Evidence: Disturb topsoil A controlled study in a former pine plantation in South Africa found that digging soil did not alter vegetation cover or the density of native plants. One randomized, replicated, controlled study in the UK found that soil disturbance increased the abundance or species richness of specialist and generalist plant species. Collected Evidencehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1728https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservationevidence.com%2Factions%2F1728Thu, 23 Nov 2017 11:49:36 +0000