Introduction
The Conservation Evidence Journal shares the global experience of those on the front line of conservation practice about the effectiveness of conservation actions. All papers include monitoring of the effects of the intervention and are written by, or in partnership with, those who did the conservation work. We encourage articles from anywhere around the world on all aspects of species and habitat management such as habitat creation, habitat restoration, translocations, reintroductions, invasive species control, changing attitudes and education.
The Conservation Evidence Journal publishes peer-reviewed papers throughout the year collected in an annual Volume. We publish Special Issues and collate Collections on specific topics, such as management of particular groups of species or habitats. To search for papers on a specific topic within the journal select Advanced search, enter your keyword(s) and within the Source box type: "conservation evidence". This will take you to a list of actions that contain Conservation Evidence Journal papers. In order to see the list of individual Conservation Evidence Journal papers on the topic, please click on 'You can also search Individual Studies' at the top of this page.
Copyright is retained by the author(s). All papers published in the Conservation Evidence Journal are open access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
The Conservation Evidence Journal is a separate publication within the Conservation Evidence project. Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity. You can search for summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions for species groups and habitats using our online database.
Latest papers
The proportion of common pheasants shot using lead shotgun ammunition in Britain has barely changed over five years of voluntary efforts to switch from lead to non-lead ammunition
Green R.E., Taggart M.A., Pain D.J., Clark N.A., Cromie R., Dodd S.G., Elliot B., Green R.M.W., Greenwood L., Huntley B., Leslie R., Porter R., Price M., Roberts J., Robinson R.A., Smith K.W., Smith L., Spencer J., Stroud D. & Thompson T. (2025), 22, 18-25
Preview
Since 2020, the SHOT-SWITCH research project has monitored the proportion of wild-shot common pheasants Phasianus colchicus in Great Britain that were killed using lead and non-lead shot. This was set up in response to UK shooting and rural organisations’ announcement that game shooters should make a full voluntary transition from lead to non-lead shotgun ammunition by 2025 and initiatives by retailers and wholesalers of game meat products. In the study’s fifth and final season (2024/2025), 99% of pheasants obtained from businesses other than Waitrose & Partners had been killed using lead ammunition. There has only been a slight, non-significant downward trend in the proportion of pheasants killed using lead shot over the five-year transition period. Although some food retailers have stated their intention to cease selling game meat products from animals killed using lead ammunition, our study indicates that these initiatives have made limited progress so far. It appears that voluntary efforts to encourage shooters to switch from lead to non-lead shotgun ammunition for game shooting have been unsuccessful and have been diminishing as the deadline for complete transition approached.
A trial of deer repellent spray for reducing deer browsing damage to coppiced hazel in an ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire
Williams S.S. (2025), 22, 16-17
Preview
A replicated, controlled trial in 2023 to test whether Trico® deer repellent spray is effective for protecting coppice re-growth from deer browsing found significantly fewer visible signs of browsing and significantly higher average re-growth for sprayed coppice than for an unsprayed control.
Sampling of red grouse carcasses in Britain indicates no progress during an intended five-year voluntary transition from lead to non-lead shotgun ammunition
Green R.E., Taggart M.A., Pain D.J., Cakin I., Clark N.A., Cromie R., Greenwood L., Guiu M., Porter R., Smith K.W., Smith L. & Wilson J.D. (2025), 22, 9-15
Preview
The 2024/2025 shooting season for red grouse Lagopus scotica in Britain was the last during a five-year voluntary transition period proposed by shooting and rural organisations in 2020, during which it was suggested that shooters of all live quarry switch from the use of lead to non-lead shotgun ammunition. We purchased carcasses of red grouse and dissected them to recover shotgun pellets for chemical analysis. All of the 78 carcasses from which shot were recovered contained lead shotgun pellets. One carcass had both lead and bismuth pellets. Samples of grouse meat had, on average, concentrations of lead that were substantially higher than is permitted in meat from farmed animals and poultry, even though shotgun pellets were removed from the meat before analysis. Lead levels were similar to those from grouse sampled five and 12 years before the beginning of the transition. X-rays of 12 carcasses revealed small (mostly 0.2 – 0.5 mm diameter) fragments in most of them, in addition to whole shot. Lead concentration in the meat was strongly correlated with the number of these fragments, which are too small to be detected and potentially rejected by scavenging animals and predators. We conclude that most of the lead found in meat from red grouse carcasses results from fragmentation of shotgun pellets impacting the birds’ bodies. The intended voluntary five-year transition has been unsuccessful in relation to red grouse.
https://conservationevidencejournal.com/reference/pdf/12814
Reduced mowing frequencies increase pollinator abundance in urban lawns in the UK
Morrison M.A., Bright A. & Brown M.J.F. (2025), 22, 1-8
Preview
Insect pollinators are currently declining, in part due to the loss of habitats and foraging resources. However, one potential source of refuge is lawns in urban areas and the floral resources within them. Lawns represent a substantial proportion of urban green space and, if managed with pollinators in mind, could become a major component of a matrix of foraging resources. This study used Ministry of Justice prison and court sites as a case study for the management of urban lawn space. Sites contained four patches, one control patch mown as normal every two weeks and then three patches mown either every four, six or 12 weeks. Weekly pollinator and flowering plant surveys were completed at each site over 12 weeks from June – August 2023. We found that patches with less frequent mowing (every six and 12 weeks) had a significantly higher abundance of pollinators, >170% higher than the typically used mowing frequency of every two weeks. Lawns left unmown for 12 weeks also had higher floral species richness and flower cover than lawns mown every two weeks. Consequently, we recommend that lawns within urban and suburban building complexes are mown at an interval of at least six, but ideally 12, weeks to improve floral resources and pollinator abundance.
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