California Rice and Wildlife Report published – Daily Democrat

From ducks and cranes to huge tights and salmon, flooded rice fields in the California central -Valley offer important – often important – habitats for many wild animal species. However, uncertainties regarding harvest markets, water and climate can cause some breeders to threaten rice fields or to change their management practices.

Will today's rice surfaces be sufficient among the current practices in order to meet the needs of the key species? If not, how much rice is needed? Where should it be planted? And which management practices offer the greatest advantage for worries?

Scientists from the University of California, Davis and Point Blue Conservation Science deal with these questions in a new report “A Nature Conservation for California Rice”, written for the California Rice Commission.

“This was an extremely interdisciplinary exertion that I do not believe that it was tried on this size for California rice or perhaps for other California agricultural harvest with wild animals,” said co-lead John Eadie, an emeritor from UC Davis professor in the department for wild animals, fish and maintenance biology coordinated. “I think this report offers the basis for future work.”

Core needs

The authors checked the core needs of the most important species that live between the region's rice fields. This includes huge tights, hibernation ducks, wintering and breeding birds, black terns, sandhill cranes and locals. They developed a mapping frame of the type of living space as well as an estimate of the rice construction area, the management practices and the priority locations for rice that would benefit every wild animal group the most.

In the past ten years, the rice construction area in California has been between 250,000 and 540,000 acres. The report showed that approximately 470,000 to 500,000 ACRES defines the desired conservation price of rice for most worries. The needs for different types include:

• 30,000 tomorrow for locals fish
• 43,000 acres for sandhill cranes
• 80,000 tomorrow for huge tights
• 373,500 hectares of winter flood rice and flooded wasteland fields for non-breeding horbirds
• 473,000 morning rice to restore the populations of black seedieners and to support the Brezing Shore birds
• 500,000 tomorrow for winter ducks

Winter flood critical

The authors emphasize that the rice surfaces alone – even up to 500,000 acres – are not maintained these species, unless water is available in winter and in critical times in autumn and spring. Winter flooding of the rice fields is particularly important for many of these species.

Historically speaking, seasonal wetlands shaped ecology and the biological diversity of the Central Valley. From the middle of the 19th century, these countries for agriculture, flood protection and development were largely drained.

“In the absence of natural wetlands, Rice has become an essential substitute habitat for an incredible variety of California wild animals,” said co-editor Daniel Karp, professor of UC Davis at the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. “In view of climate -induced drought and escalating water prices, it is absolutely important to protect this incredible history of maintenance to protect the support of the rice farmers in winter.”

Priority locations and management solutions

For almost all wildlife groups, the Colusa and Sutter basins are the highest priority locations for travel life due to their proximity to wetlands and wildlife trimmers. The Yolo pool, the Consumnes mockelum region and parts of the delta are particularly important for SHORBOGEL and Sandhill cranes. The Yolo and the Sutter avoidance also represent critical areas for fish in flooded rice fields.

However, the conservation value of these areas largely depends on how they are managed. In addition to the floods and the water availability of winter, the spatial location, the management of vegetation, irrigation channels and the rice straw after the harvest penalty, there are only a few of the considerations in the management of rice for wildlife. The report describes several strategies for each group.

“This type of interdisciplinary work is a challenge, but so important for effective receipt,” said co-author Kristen Dybala, a main ecologist at Point Blue Conservation Science. “When we work together, we can identify opportunities for the same morning to contribute to several goals at the same time.”

The value of rice

The rice production not only offers habitat for wild animals, but also creates an additional economic value of around 1 billion US dollars and up to 7,500 jobs for the California Sacramento Valley.

“For decades, our producers have seen first -hand how much their rice fields are used by wild animals all year round,” said Tim Johnson, President and CEO of California Rice Commission. “This Rice Footprint report of the University of California, Davis, describes as the same fields that let the Sushi rice grow in America, serve as an economic driver for our small communities and are also of crucial importance for our ecosystem to help water birds, shadling, reptiles and fish.”

The report was mainly financed by the California Rice Commission by a scholarship to the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and the Blue Conservation Science.

Other authors are Francisco Bellido-Leiva, Lee Burrows, Sean Fogenburg, Andrew Rypel and Brian Todd from UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology; Robert Walsh from Point Blue Conservation Science; Bruce Linquist from UC Davis Plant Sciences; and Daniel Sumner and Jessica Xu from UC Davis Agricultural and Resource Economics.