Lundi 10 août 2015 de 11h à 12h, Christopher Elphick (University of Connecticut) présentera à la Tour du Valat (en grande salle) un séminaire en anglais intitulé « The conservation and ecology of birds in rice fields« .
L’accès à ce séminaire est libre et sans inscription.
Résumé du film :
Rice is one of the world’s most important crops. It is grown in at least 114 countries, occupies over 150 million hectares of land annually, is a primary source of nutrition for over half the world’s human population, and constitutes over a fifth of the global grain supply. Rice is unusual among crops in that it is generally grown under flooded conditions and, if managed appropriately, can provide important habitat for wetland species. Waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, and many other waterbirds use rice fields, foraging on a variety of prey, nesting in the crop and in fringing vegetation, and staging during migration.
Conflicts also exist, with some cropping practices harmful to birds and some bird activity detrimental to yield production. Much of the early research on waterbirds in rice fields was conducted in Mediterranean Europe with only scattered work elsewhere. More recently, there has been a growing focus on the conservation value of rice fields, with detailed studies from most of the major regions where rice is grown.
This body of research has included community studies of the range of birds that use rice fields; detailed studies of endangered species; and behavioural studies of reproductive success, foraging ecology, and movement. Increasingly, research is focusing on applied studies of farming techniques and how they affect bird populations. Conservation implementation of research findings, however, will require increased collaboration with rice growers to identify cropping systems that provide conservation gains without compromising crop production.
