Rice Fields and Waterbirds in the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East

Effects of Landscape Features on Waterbird Use of Rice Fields

“…For example, rice fields in the southern USA, south-central South America, southern Europe, parts of Asia and elsewhere receive heavy use by migrating waterbirds (e.g. Eadie et al 2008;Acosta et al 2010;Fujioka et al 2010;Longoni 2010;Sundar and Subramanya 2010). In the rice-growing region of southwestern Louisiana 106 waterbird species have been documented, although this number is likely augmented by the additional effects of crawfish agriculture (Huner et al 2002), and in California over 140 bird species have been seen in rice fields (Eadie et al 2008).…”

Determinants of the re‐occupation and size of Grey HeronArdea cinereabreeding colonies in northern Poland

“…Nesting in close proximity to human activity not always negatively affects waterbirds. It might provide suitable foraging opportunities in human-altered portions of the landscape, such as rice fields (the most significant manmade foraging habitat for breeding herons in the Mediterranean, due to the variety, density and size of prey organisms, as well as the suitability of water depth and substrate; Fasola et al1993;Fasola and Ruiz 1996;Maeda 2001;Czech and Parsons 2002;Kazantzidis and Goutner 2008;Longoni 2010), fish ponds (Kushlan et al 2005;Kloskowski 2011;Manikowska-S´lepowron´ska et al in preparation). In our study, the colony at Jawory with 119 % increase in number of nests between 2004 and 2013 is situated in close proximity (110 m) to the fish farm ponds.…”

The Future for Research on Waterbirds in Rice Fields

“…Moreover, the area of rice habitat is considerably greater than the area of natural wetland habitat in many areas, and rice fields are frequently the dominant flooded habitat available to waterbirds (e.g. Longoni 2010;Wood et al 2010;Wymenga and Zwarts 2010). These factors in combination make it inevitable that rice production will have considerable influence on biological diversity generally and wetland species in particular.…”

“…Even management actions designed to benefit waterbirds in rice fields-such as flooding fields during the non-growing season )-require careful consideration of both costs and benefits when they alter use patterns of limited resources such as water across landscapes. Although rice habitats cannot be expected to support the full complement of species found in natural wetlands, they compare favorably to many other human land uses, including most alternative crops (Taft and Elphick 2007;Longoni 2010;Sundar and Subramanya 2010).…”

“…Some species may experience reduced nest predation when using rice fields, while others may experience more (Pierluissi 2010). Some growing practices can be harmful to nesting birds, such as certain seeding methods (Kim et al 2009) and temporarily drawing down water levels during the breeding season (Lee 1984;Longoni 2010). Similarly, harvest methods may cause widespread mortality of eggs, nestlings and perhaps adults.…”