Wetland bird utilisation of ephemerally flooded rice paddies in late winter snowmelt season in central Japan
Journal
Watershed Ecology and the Environment
Journal Volume
7
Start Page
178
End Page
186
ISSN
2589-4714
Date Issued
2025-01
Author(s)
Abstract
This study highlights the importance of rice paddies in snow-rich regions of central Japan as habitat for wetland bird species during snow-melting late winter season. During the study period, we recorded seven wetland species, including waders, egrets, and waterfowls. The abundance and richness of these birds were not significantly associated with the patch size of rice paddies. However, bird abundance presented a marginally positive association with the coverage of open water bodies within the landscape, while species richness showed a marginal relationship with the distance to the nearest water body. Our findings suggest that snowmelt-created wetlands may provide functions as critical stopover sites for migratory birds along the East Asian-Australian Flyway, and that enhancing water features in agricultural landscapes may yield greater conservation benefits than simply modifying the patch size of agricultural wetlands.
Subjects
Agricultural landscape
Artificial wetland
Avifauna
Community ecology
Open water
Wader
Waterfowl
SDGs
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article