A history of ecological studies of birds in rice fields

Elphick, Chris S.

doi:10.1007/s10336-015-1194-5

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Therefore, waterbirds are an ideal species group to explore assembly processes and assess effects of habitat changes on biotic communities. Moreover, in the context of global losses and degradations of natural wetlands (Butchart et al, 2010;Kar, 2013), waterbirds have been increasingly found to use artificial wetlands as complementary habitats, such as paddy fields, aquaculture ponds and water reservoirs (Elphick, 2015;Navedo et al, 2012;Petchey, Evans, Fishburn, & Gaston, 2007). An understanding of waterbird responses to environmental variables and assembly processes in human-dominated landscape can increase the success of management and conservation actions of waterbirds (Thompson & Starzomski, 2007;Tscharntke et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembly processes of waterbird communities across subsidence wetlands in China: A functional and phylogenetic approach

Yong

Zha

et al. 2019

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Although assembly processes have been studied in a wide range of taxa, determining assembly rules remains controversial, particularly in assemblages consisted of species with strong dispersal capacities. Moreover, few studies focused on communities in recently human‐created habitats. We tested two prevailing but opposing hypotheses, environmental filtering and limiting similarity, in waterbird communities across subsidence wetlands created by underground coal mining in China, with an aim to better understand assembly processes in communities composed of highly mobile species in human‐dominated landscape. Location The North China Plain. Methods We quantified taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of the waterbird assemblages in different seasons and compared the mean pairwise distances (MPD) and the mean nearest taxon distances (MNTD) with null models to examine whether co‐occurring species were clustered or overdispersed on the functional dendrogram or phylogenetic tree. Independent contributions of multi‐scale habitat variables therein were determined using a hierarchical partitioning method. Results We showed asynchronous patterns of seasonal dynamics among the multiple diversity metrics, with highest species diversity during autumn migration. Generally, the co‐occurring species were functionally and phylogenetically clustered. Habitat variables had stronger effects on the functional structure than on the phylogenetic structure of the communities. The degree of functional clustering increased in older and larger wetlands, while the assemblages shifted from functional clustering to overdispersion with increasing habitat diversity, landscape connectivity and human disturbance. Main conclusions The waterbird assemblages were mainly structured by environmental filtering, and the assembly processes were significantly affected by habitat variables, with stronger effects on functional diversity. Our study highlights the importance of environmental filtering and habitat variables in structuring assemblages dominated by species with high dispersal capacities and suggests that increasing habitat diversity and reducing disturbances will contribute to waterbird conservation in this human‐dominated landscape.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembly processes of waterbird communities across subsidence wetlands in China: A functional and phylogenetic approach

Yong

Zha

et al. 2019

Diversity and Distributions

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“…Migratory birds need to navigate these human‐altered landscapes during their seasonal migration and depend on them as alternatives to lost natural habitat. Especially, agricultural land plays an important role in supporting migratory bird communities year‐round: pastures provide wintering and breeding grounds to meadow passerines, waterfowl and waders (Knopf, ); rice fields (Elphick, ; Lourenço, Mandema, Hooijmeijer, Granadeiro, & Piersma, ) and salt pans (Masero, Pérez‐Hurtado, Castro, & Arroyo, ) act as important alternative stopover for shorebirds, and crane and goose populations make extensive use of waste crop in winter (Ma, Cai, Li, & Chen, ; Stafford, Kaminski, Reinecke, & Manley, ; Tourenq et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pastures provide wintering and breeding grounds to meadow passerines, waterfowl and waders (Knopf, 1994); rice fields (Elphick, 2015;Lourenço, Mandema, Hooijmeijer, Granadeiro, & Piersma, 2010) and salt pans (Masero, Pérez-Hurtado, Castro, & Arroyo, 2000) act as important alternative stopover for shorebirds, and crane and goose populations make extensive use of waste crop in winter (Ma, Cai, Li, & Chen, 2010;Stafford, Kaminski, Reinecke, & Manley, 2006;Tourenq et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural pastures challenge the attractiveness of natural saltmarsh for a migratory goose

Dokter

Fokkema

Ebbinge

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Abstract1. Broad-scale land conversions and fertilizer use have dramatically altered the available staging area for herbivorous long-distance migrants. Instead of natural land, these birds rely increasingly on pastures for migratory fuelling and stopover, often conflicting with farming practices. To predict and manage birds' future habitat use, the relative advantages and disadvantages of natural (e.g. saltmarsh, intertidal) versus anthropogenic staging sites for foraging need to be understood.2. We compared the migratory staging of brent geese on saltmarsh and pasture sites in spring. Food quality (nitrogen and fibre content), antagonistic behaviour, and body weight were quantified at nearby sites in simultaneous seasons. Individuals were tracked with high-resolution GPS and accelerometers to compare timing of migration and time budgets during fuelling.3. On pastures, birds rested more and experienced higher ingestion rates, similar or superior food quality and reduced antagonistic interactions than on saltmarsh.4. Brent geese using fertilized grasslands advanced their fuelling and migration schedules compared to those using saltmarsh. Pasture birds reached heavy weights earlier, departed sooner, and arrived in the Arctic earlier.5. Intertidal mudflats were frequently visited by saltmarsh birds during the day, and available food there (algae, some seagrass) was of higher quality than terrestrial resources. Availability of intertidal resources was an important factor balancing the otherwise more favourable conditions on pastures relative to saltmarsh.6. Synthesis and applications. Disadvantages of longer foraging effort, more antagonistic interactions and delayed fuelling schedules on traditional saltmarshes may cause geese to exchange this traditional niche in favour of pastures, especially in a warming climate that requires advancement of migratory schedules. However, due to its high quality, intertidal forage can complement terrestrial foraging, potentially removing the incentive for habitat switches to pastures. The relatively high quality of green algae and seagrass, and birds' remarkable preference for these resources when available, provides a key for managers to create landscapes that can sustain this special- | INTRODUC TI ONHuman activity is altering our planet's surface in rapid and pervasive ways. Over 80% of the earth's land mass is now under direct human influence (Sanderson et al., 2002), with croplands and pastures occupying over 40% of the total area (Asner, Elmore, Olander, Martin, & Harris, 2004;Foley, 2005). Migratory birds need to navigate these humanaltered landscapes during their seasonal migration and depend on them as alternatives to lost natural habitat. Especially, agricultural land plays an important role in supporting migratory bird communities year-round:pastures provide wintering and breeding grounds to meadow passerines, waterfowl and waders (Knopf, 1994); rice fields (Elphick, 2015;Lourenço, Mandema, Hooijmeijer, Granadeiro, & Piersma, 2010) (Abraham, Jefferies, & Alisauskas, ...

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“…Birds use created wetlands in many countries in addition to China (Ma et al 2004, Elphick 2015). Created wetlands resulting from human development are widely distributed and, in spite of some debate on the matter, their important role as alternative habitats for natural wetlands is being increasingly recognized (Longoni 2010, Li et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waterbird Communities in Subsidence Wetlands Created by Underground Coal Mining in China: Effects of Multi-Scale Environmental and Anthropogenic Variables

Yang

Zha

et al. 2018

Envir. Conserv.

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SummaryUnderground coal mining in the North China Plain has created large-scale subsidence wetlands that may attract waterbirds that use them as complementary habitats. However, no study has been conducted to understand avian use of these created wetlands, inhibiting the formulation of effective management plans. Here, we carried out 12 semi-monthly surveys in 55 subsidence wetlands during the 2016–2017 migration and wintering period and performed direct multivariate analyses, combined with variance partitioning, to test the effects of multi-scale habitat variables on the waterbird assemblages. A total of 89 349 waterbirds representing 60 species were recorded, with seasonal fluctuations in species richness and bird abundance. Waterbird community structures were shaped by four groups of variables at local, landscape and human levels with different effects among seasons. Anthropogenic disturbance was the most important factor group, negatively affecting most guilds. Waterbirds in this human-dominated environment are under a variety of potential threats that should be further studied. The subsidence wetlands are still expanding, and if managed effectively, may provide important complementary habitats for a wide array of waterbird species, particularly for those migrating along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Our study provides key baseline data regarding the waterbird communities and may help with the designing of effective management and conservation plans.

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A history of ecological studies of birds in rice fields

Cited by 21 publications

References 38 publications

Assembly processes of waterbird communities across subsidence wetlands in China: A functional and phylogenetic approach

Assembly processes of waterbird communities across subsidence wetlands in China: A functional and phylogenetic approach

Agricultural pastures challenge the attractiveness of natural saltmarsh for a migratory goose

Waterbird Communities in Subsidence Wetlands Created by Underground Coal Mining in China: Effects of Multi-Scale Environmental and Anthropogenic Variables

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