Actions to conserve biodiversity
We have summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions to conserve wildlife and ecosystems.
Review the evidence from the studies
Not sure what Actions are? Read a brief description.
122 Actions found
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122 Actions found
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Action | Effectiveness | Studies | Category | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sustainable management of non-timber forest products Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() | |
Thin trees after wildfire Action Link | Trade-off between benefit and harms | 6 | ![]() | |
Thin trees by girdling (cutting rings around tree trunks) Action Link | Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 1 | ![]() | |
Thin trees within forests: effects on mature trees Action Link | Trade-off between benefit and harms | 18 | ![]() | |
Thin trees within forests: effects on non-vascular plants Action Link | Likely to be ineffective or harmful | 4 | ![]() | |
Thin trees within forests: effects on understory plants Action Link | Likely to be beneficial | 37 | ![]() | |
Thin trees within forests: effects on young trees Action Link | Likely to be beneficial | 13 | ![]() | |
Transplant trees Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() | |
Use brash mats during harvesting to avoid soil compaction Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() | |
Use clearcutting to increase understory diversity Action Link | Trade-off between benefit and harms | 24 | ![]() | |
Use different planting or seeding methods Action Link | Unlikely to be beneficial | 5 | ![]() | |
Use electric fencing to exclude large native herbivores Action Link | Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 1 | ![]() | |
Use fencing to enclose large herbivores (e.g. deer) Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() | |
Use fertilizer Action Link | Trade-off between benefit and harms | 8 | ![]() | |
Use fertilizer after tree planting Action Link | Unlikely to be beneficial | 5 | ![]() | |
Use grazing to remove invasive plant species Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() | |
Use group-selection harvesting Action Link | Trade-off between benefit and harms | 9 | ![]() | |
Use herbicides after tree planting Action Link | Unlikely to be beneficial | 4 | ![]() | |
Use herbicides to control invasive plant species Action Link | Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 1 | ![]() | |
Use herbicides to remove invasive plant species Action Link | Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 1 | ![]() | |
Use herbicides to remove understory vegetation to reduce wildfires Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() | |
Use herbicides to thin trees Action Link | Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 1 | ![]() | |
Use mechanical thinning before or after planting Action Link | Beneficial | 7 | ![]() | |
Use partial retention harvesting instead of clearcutting Action Link | Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 3 | ![]() | |
Use pioneer plants or crops as nurse plants Action Link | No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 | ![]() |
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Forest Conservation - Published 2016
Forest synopsis
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What are 'Individual studies' and 'Actions'?
Individual studies
An individual study is a summary of a specific scientific study, usually taken from a scientific journal, but also from other resources such as reports. It tells you the background context, the action(s) taken and their consequences.
If you want more detail please look at the original reference.
Actions
Each action page focuses on a particular action you could take to benefit wildlife or ecosystems.
It contains brief (150-200 word) descriptions of relevant studies (context, action(s) taken and their consequences) and one or more key messages.
Key messages show the extent and main conclusions of the available evidence. Using links within key messages, you can look at the paragraphs describing each study to get more detail. Each paragraph allows you to assess the quality of the evidence and how relevant it is to your situation.
Where we found no evidence, we have been unable to assess whether or not an intervention is effective or has any harmful impacts.