Restricted mowing reduces grass uprooting by urban crows

• Published in: European journal of wildlife research Vol. 67; no. 3
• Main Authors: Lequitte-Charransol, Perrine, Jiguet, Frédéric
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2021; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Biodiversity and Ecology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Ecology; Environmental Sciences; Ethics; Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management; Food waste; Grasses; Invertebrates; Life Sciences; Metapopulations; Mowing; Original Article; Soil invertebrates; Uprooting; Zoology; Experimental mowing; Lawn beds; Lawn management; Chaffer; Urban wildlife conflict; Urban wildlife management
• ISSN: 1612-4642; 1439-0574
• DOI: 10.1007/s10344-021-01504-3

Urban crows feed mainly on food wastes, also often dig up plantations and uproot grass in search of soil invertebrates, locally leading to extended damages to flower and lawn beds. Lethal methods to reduce crow numbers are largely inefficient, because of the large spatial scale of metapopulation dynamics. We tested experimentally if the mowing management of lawns could reduce grass uprooting by foraging crows in Paris during two consecutive years. Six lawn beds were mown as usual, six others remained unmown from September until February when we estimated the uprooted extend and the abundance of underground invertebrates. Unmowing led to taller grass, higher invertebrate abundances and a reduction of uprooting by 50%. It is ethically more acceptable than any lethal method, and provides economic benefits, by reducing the costs of lawn restoration, but also of mowing. We conclude that restricted mowing is ecologically, economically and ethically efficient to reduce grass uprooting by foraging urban crows. Graphical abstract