Conservation implications of flooding rice fields on winter waterbird communities

Elphick, Chris S.; Oring, Lewis W.

doi:10.1016/s0167-8809(02)00022-1

Cited by 120 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…As with other man-made wetlands (Tourenq et al 2001;Maeda 2001;Múrias et al 2002;Elphick and Oring 2003;Ma et al 2004;Paracuellos and Telleria 2004;Santoul et al 2004), these ponds were exploited all year long by several waterbird species and provided them with refuge, food and/or breeding sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, artificial wetlands hold less abundant populations than natural wetlands (e.g. Tourenq et al 2001;Ma et al 2004), but these man-made wetlands may be important in some situations and for certain species (Froneman et al 2001;Elphick and Oring 2003). For example, irrigation ponds hold larger populations of Blackwinged Stilt, Little Grebe and Common Shelduck than the natural wetlands at the area (Martí and Del Moral 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, irrigation ponds should be included in the official waterbird censuses, which are conducted every year in order to obtain more precise knowledge of the real population in the study area (Martí anddel Moral 2003, 2004). Moreover, the importance of ponds, like other artificial wetlands (Maeda 2001;Tourenq et al 2001;Múrias et al 2002;McKinstry and Anderson 2002;Elphick and Oring 2003;Paracuellos and Telleria 2004;Ma et al 2004;Santoul et al 2004;Okes et al 2008, Rendon et al 2008, increases as a result of the degradation of natural ones. In our case, the value of ponds for waterbirds conservation is higher in the breeding season, as a consequence of the characteristics of the climate in the zone.…”

Section: Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, waterbirds may benefit from using alternative places to feed and breed, even if these spaces are man-made. These new aquatic systems were originally designed and managed for human benefit and only secondarily acquired a role in biodiversity conservation (Maeda 2001;Múrias et al 2002;Elphick and Oring 2003;Ma et al 2004;Sánchez-Zapata et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural ponds as alternative habitat for waterbirds: spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and management strategies

2009

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The progressive lost of natural wetlands as a consequence of human activities has lead to the use of new habitats by the species linked to water presence. In Southeast Spain, thousands of irrigation ponds have been lately constructed to store water for agriculture and are used by waterbirds as an alternative habitat. For this study, breeding and wintering waterbirds were counted in a subset of irrigation ponds between 2002 and 2007. Breeding communities were more abundant than wintering communities, but they presented a similar richness and diversity. The ponds were selected by waterbirds according to their characteristics, and breeding communities were more selective than wintering communities. Our results enhance the importance of pond size (area), connectivity (distance to the nearest wetland) and habitat quality (resource offer and construction material) in the pond selection process. The presence and design of these impoundments could be playing a crucial role for some waterbirds species. Therefore, the long-term information provided here can be useful for establishing management strategies for these artificial wetlands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural ponds as alternative habitat for waterbirds: spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and management strategies

2009

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“…Natural wetlands are drastically disappearing; more than 50 % of the world's wetlands were lost during the twentieth century and 56-65 % of these were converted to agricultural land in North America and Europe (Finlayson and Davidson 1999). Flooded ricefields can play an important role in supplementing natural wetland resources as foraging grounds for waterfowl (Elphick and Oring 2003). In North America, ricefields are flooded during the winter period to attract waterfowl as part of a habitat management scheme .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waterfowl foraging in winter-flooded ricefields: Any agronomic benefits for farmers?

Brogi

Pernollet

Gauthier‐Clerc

et al. 2015

Ambio

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Winter-flooding of ricefields provides foraging habitat to waterfowl, which in return may bring agronomic benefits to farmers. Our study experimentally tested the effect of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) on the standing stalks and weed seed bank in the Camargue (France), both of which present major challenges for farmers. Three duck densities were tested: (D1) 5 ducks ha -1 (historical nocturnal density), (D2) 23 ducks ha -1 (present nocturnal density), and (D3) 300 ducks ha -1 (Asian rice-duck farming density). The ducks reduced the stalks significantly: -27 % (D1), -52 % (D2), and -91 % (D3). Conversely, they decreased the number of seeds by only 3 % (D3) and the seed mass by about 21 % (D1 and D3), which was not significant. Besides they had no effect on seed species richness. This study clearly demonstrates that the winter-flooding effect on straw decomposition can be enhanced by waterfowl foraging, hence showing an agronomic benefit from ducks to farmers. However, there was no clear effect in terms of seed bank reduction.

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Can management practices in rice fields contribute to amphibian conservation in southern Brazilian wetlands?

Machado

Maltchik

2009

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. Rice field expansion is one of the activities associated with the disappearance of 90% of the wetlands in southern Brazil. Worldwide, rice agriculture has been recognized as having considerable potential value for many aquatic species. Nevertheless, management practices in such systems must be ameliorated and better investigated.2. This study evaluated the potential role of rice fields as refugia for amphibians, and whether different hydrologic management practices after rice cultivation could contribute to wetland amphibian conservation in southern Brazil.3. Six collections were made in six rice fields with different management practices after cultivation (three dry and three flooded) and three natural wetlands. The amphibians were sampled through six random 15-min visual transects per collection in each rice field and the natural wetlands.4. In total, 2139 anuran individuals were observed in rice fields (798) and Reserva Lake (1341), comprising 12 anuran species distributed among five anuran families. Anuran richness and abundance varied over the rice cultivating cycle, and they were higher in the growing phases than in the fallow phases. The mean anuran richness and abundance was higher in Reserva Lake than in flooded and dry rice fields.5. The different management practices adopted after the harvesting period (presence or lack of surface water) did not influence the anuran richness and abundance. It did, however, influence species composition.6. The difference in species composition between the management practices adopted is an interesting result in terms of biodiversity conservation. Rice producers could maintain part of their agricultural land flooded during the fallow phase as a strategy to preserve a higher diversity of anurans. These results should be taken into consideration in wetland conservation plans in southern Brazil; however, the percentage of each agricultural land that should be kept flooded should be decided by Brazilian agricultural and conservation policies. Such a strategy would reconcile agricultural/economic needs with the conservation of biodiversity in southern Brazil, where more than 90% of wetland systems have already been lost.

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Conservation implications of flooding rice fields on winter waterbird communities

Cited by 120 publications

References 19 publications

Agricultural ponds as alternative habitat for waterbirds: spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and management strategies

Agricultural ponds as alternative habitat for waterbirds: spatial and temporal patterns of abundance and management strategies

Waterfowl foraging in winter-flooded ricefields: Any agronomic benefits for farmers?

Can management practices in rice fields contribute to amphibian conservation in southern Brazilian wetlands?

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