On-farm intervention for improving water quality: livestock exclusion fencing

Abstract

The proposed protocol is for a rapid evidence synthesis analysis into the use of livestock exclusion fencing as an on-farm intervention for improving water quality. The primary objectives are to assess the use of livestock exclusion fencing to improve water quality by reducing nutrient load, the presence of faecal indicator organisms and sediment load in watercourses on farms. The secondary objectives include evaluating how stocking density/land cover and watercourse size moderate the impacts of exclusion fencing on water quality. The protocol outlines the rationale and objects of the review, and the inclusion criteria, search strategy, data extraction, statistical analysis, risk of bias and data synthesis.