Consequences of game bird management for non-game species in Europe

Abstract

1. Game bird management has the potential to benefit conservation, as management practices specifically targeted at reducing the factors limiting game populations may have positive effects on non-game species. However, such management may also have costs to species.2. We review the literature that examines the effect of different forms of game bird management on non-target species in Europe, including habitat management, predator control, parasite control, provision of water and food and rear and release. We focus on Europe, where these forms of management are common and sometimes intensive.3. We identified 35 studies, which recorded 122 individual significant effects. Most studies (80%) focussed on the effects of habitat management and predator control, and >90% were carried out in the UK.4. 63% of the 122 significant effects on non-game species were positive. Overall, 85% of the effects of habitat management in agricultural habitats were positive, while in non-agricultural habitats 65% of effects were negative. Effects of rear and release were mixed (8 positive and 7 negative). Legal predator control was almost always positive (96% of effects), or benign, whereas illegal predator control was always negative (8 effects). This continues to be a major cost to conservation. No studies examined the effects of parasite control on non-target wildlife. Three of four significant effects of supplementary feeding were negative.5. More studies are needed on the impacts of game bird management on non-game species, and particularly of rear and release, the provision of supplementary food and water, and parasite control. We also found few experimental studies examining the specific effects of management for shooting of game birds, and very few studies overall outside the UK. Future studies should aim to fill these gaps.

Keywords

biodiversity conservation; habitat management; hunting; parasite control; predator control; rear and release; supplementary feed; uplands

Published in

Journal of Applied Ecology
2018, Volume: 55, number: 5, pages: 2285-2295
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Redpath, Stephen

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Aberdeen

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Life on land


UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13131

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/96457