Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites
This study investigates the extent to which shorebirds confront habitat degradation at the natural wetlands (mudflats, mangroves, sand beaches) by shifting to adjacent rice fields for foraging. Our results showed an overall decline in shorebird abundance across the southwest coast of India; however,...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25003553 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850183136786251776 |
|---|---|
| author | K.M. Aarif Aymen Nefla K.A. Rubeena Yanjie Xu Zuzana Musilova Petr Musil Lijia Wen Yumin Guo Mohd Irfan Naikoo Christian Sonne Sabir Bin Muzaffar |
| author_facet | K.M. Aarif Aymen Nefla K.A. Rubeena Yanjie Xu Zuzana Musilova Petr Musil Lijia Wen Yumin Guo Mohd Irfan Naikoo Christian Sonne Sabir Bin Muzaffar |
| author_sort | K.M. Aarif |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigates the extent to which shorebirds confront habitat degradation at the natural wetlands (mudflats, mangroves, sand beaches) by shifting to adjacent rice fields for foraging. Our results showed an overall decline in shorebird abundance across the southwest coast of India; however, this decline was mostly observed in natural habitat types. In contrast, shorebird diversity and abundance showed more significant positive trends in the adjacent rice fields than these natural habitats. The prey abundance showed a similar trend to shorebird abundance. While mudflats and sand beaches degraded with a decrease in their prey abundance, rice fields play a crucial role as alternative/complementary foraging grounds with increasing amount of food resources for shorebirds. Our results suggest that although the shorebirds shifted to anthropogenic alternative sites with additional food resources, such behavioral adaptations were not sufficient for bending the overall declining trend of their abundance. Agricultural practices like ploughing and flooding of rice fields enhanced the prey availability to the shorebirds which are the key factors that attracted the shorebirds towards these artificial ecosystems. Hence deploying sustainable agricultural practices may add up to conservation efforts to protect the shorebirds species in their alternative wintering and foraging sites. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ed2b3bb4f97640108180ad524760cb22 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-ed2b3bb4f97640108180ad524760cb222025-08-20T02:17:26ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-04-0117311342510.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113425Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sitesK.M. Aarif0Aymen Nefla1K.A. Rubeena2Yanjie Xu3Zuzana Musilova4Petr Musil5Lijia Wen6Yumin Guo7Mohd Irfan Naikoo8Christian Sonne9Sabir Bin Muzaffar10Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Science, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Kamýcḱa 129, Praha Suchdol, Prague CZ-165 21, Czechia; Corresponding authors.Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, El Manar II, 2092 Tunis, TunisiaCentre for Environment and Marine Studies, Research & Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi ArabiaFinnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 17, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland; Nature Solutions, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Helsinki, Finland; Corresponding authors.Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Science, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Kamýcḱa 129, Praha Suchdol, Prague CZ-165 21, CzechiaDepartment of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Science, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Kamýcḱa 129, Praha Suchdol, Prague CZ-165 21, CzechiaSchool of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, 100083 Beijing, ChinaSchool of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, 100083 Beijing, ChinaCentre for Environment and Marine Studies, Research & Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi ArabiaAarhus University, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Ecoscience, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, DenmarkDepartment of Biology, United Arab Emirates University, 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; Department of Science, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, UKThis study investigates the extent to which shorebirds confront habitat degradation at the natural wetlands (mudflats, mangroves, sand beaches) by shifting to adjacent rice fields for foraging. Our results showed an overall decline in shorebird abundance across the southwest coast of India; however, this decline was mostly observed in natural habitat types. In contrast, shorebird diversity and abundance showed more significant positive trends in the adjacent rice fields than these natural habitats. The prey abundance showed a similar trend to shorebird abundance. While mudflats and sand beaches degraded with a decrease in their prey abundance, rice fields play a crucial role as alternative/complementary foraging grounds with increasing amount of food resources for shorebirds. Our results suggest that although the shorebirds shifted to anthropogenic alternative sites with additional food resources, such behavioral adaptations were not sufficient for bending the overall declining trend of their abundance. Agricultural practices like ploughing and flooding of rice fields enhanced the prey availability to the shorebirds which are the key factors that attracted the shorebirds towards these artificial ecosystems. Hence deploying sustainable agricultural practices may add up to conservation efforts to protect the shorebirds species in their alternative wintering and foraging sites.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25003553AgroecosystemWetlandsConservationPreyHabitat-shiftingHabitat degradation |
| spellingShingle | K.M. Aarif Aymen Nefla K.A. Rubeena Yanjie Xu Zuzana Musilova Petr Musil Lijia Wen Yumin Guo Mohd Irfan Naikoo Christian Sonne Sabir Bin Muzaffar Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites Ecological Indicators Agroecosystem Wetlands Conservation Prey Habitat-shifting Habitat degradation |
| title | Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites |
| title_full | Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites |
| title_fullStr | Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites |
| title_short | Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites |
| title_sort | rice fields as alternative foraging grounds rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites |
| topic | Agroecosystem Wetlands Conservation Prey Habitat-shifting Habitat degradation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25003553 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kmaarif ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT aymennefla ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT karubeena ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT yanjiexu ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT zuzanamusilova ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT petrmusil ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT lijiawen ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT yuminguo ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT mohdirfannaikoo ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT christiansonne ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites AT sabirbinmuzaffar ricefieldsasalternativeforaginggroundsrisingshorebirddiversityandabundancedespitedeclinesinnaturalcoastalwinteringsites |