This sets out the evidence for one link in the Generic Reserve Conservation Programme Logic. See the summary for information on the expert group which prepared this.
Strength of evidence supporting existence of influence: There is a lot of good evidence for the link between rabbits controlled in key conservation areas influencing overall increase in ground cover. This is set out in the Systematic Evidence Review No. 14 From the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation [This is an example only and not on this topic]
Evidence type
Outcomes studies: There are numerous experimental outcome evaluations which have been carried out on this link including Smith and Western (2007); Brown and Jones (2006).
Non-outcomes studies: There are a number of studies which describe different practical ways that rabbits can be eliminated without establishing an outcome effect. These include Long and Tuffy (2003).
Suggestions for future research on this link: It is suggested that a specific study be conduced on poisoning with Rabbit Kill versus trapping in very dry bush conditions as this is one area where the evidence is not clear.
Other comments: A new program logic should be drawn up outlining different ways of eliminating rabbits and describing the evidence for each method.