HARRISBURG, AR – Scientists highlighted the increasingly important role rice production plays in sustaining North America's migratory birds during the Waterfowl & Agriculture Field Day, organized by the Rice Stewardship Partnership and hosted at the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center here this week. The workshop brought together producers, researchers, conservation organizations and agency partners to discuss how working rice lands have become critical habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife across the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
For generations, rice production has been recognized for feeding people around the world. Increasingly, researchers say those same fields are proving just as important for sustaining migratory birds, replacing many of the natural wetlands that once covered the region and serving as one of North America's most important working landscapes for wildlife.
Dr. Ryan Askren of the Five Oaks Ag Research & Education Center reported that decades of research now demonstrate that wintering habitat in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley influences far more than the ducks hunters see each season.
"We have this link between the number of flooded rice acres here in Arkansas and the Delta as a whole, and that is more closely tied to the productivity, the number of ducks that are produced up in the prairies," Askren said. "We need to pay great attention to the habitat here on the landscape because it is driving continental populations, not just our hunting, not the abundances that we enjoy in winter, but the overall population that the entire country gets to enjoy."
The importance of that habitat cannot be overstated. Askren explained that roughly 40 percent of the Midcontinent mallard population still winters in Arkansas, making the region one of North America’s most important wintering areas. His research also found that rice acreage itself is a stronger predictor of mallard use than flooded habitat alone.
"As we lose rice agriculture ... does flooding those fields still get at the benefit that rice has been providing on the landscape? The answer is ‘no,’" said Askren. "Rice acres are driving band recoveries even more than these inundation maps ... losing those rice acres is incredibly detrimental to waterfowl."
While much of the discussion centered on waterfowl, Elijah Wojohn, shorebird conservation biologist with Manomet Conservation Sciences, broadened the conversation to include the many other migratory birds that depend on rice-growing landscapes.
"The Mississippi River watershed supports 60 percent of all U.S. bird species that migrate or winter here, and we have about 30 species of shorebirds that use this region," Wojohn said.
He noted that some shorebirds migrate nearly 20,000 miles each year, relying on stopover habitat to rest and rebuild energy reserves before continuing their journeys. As natural wetlands have become less available, rice fields have become an essential part of that migration network. "This agricultural habitat is incredibly important, especially rice, as it can be a surrogate wetland," he said.
Properly managed rice fields can provide many of the habitat functions migratory birds need, including shallow water, food resources and places to rest and refuel during migration.
Wojohn also encouraged producers to consider management practices such as early-season shallow flooding and varying water depths where practical, explaining those practices benefit shorebirds, early migrating waterfowl, and the aquatic invertebrates that support both groups.
Beyond the research presentations, attendees also heard from conservation partners about voluntary programs and management practices available to producers, including post-harvest flooding, conservation easements, early shallow-water management, and technical and financial assistance that help producers enhance wildlife habitat while maintaining productive working lands.
The presentations reinforced a message shared throughout the day: sustaining rice production means sustaining one of North America's most important working landscapes for wildlife. Askren concluded that "loss of rice acres could have legacy effects on all wintering waterfowl," underscoring that maintaining that landscape will require continued investment in research, voluntary conservation programs, and policies that help keep rice producers on the land.