Premium
Conserving Waste Rice for Wintering Waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Author(s) -
KROSS JENNIFER P.,
KAMINSKI RICHARD M.,
REINECKE KENNETH J.,
PEARSE AARON T.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the journal of wildlife management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1937-2817
pISSN - 0022-541X
DOI - 10.2193/2007-226
Subject(s) - waterfowl , postharvest , abundance (ecology) , environmental science , agronomy , food waste , waste management , fishery , biology , ecology , engineering , horticulture , habitat
Rice lost before or during harvest operations (hereafter waste rice) provides important food for waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA, but >70% of waste rice is lost during autumn. We conducted experiments in 19 production rice fields in Arkansas and Mississippi during autumns 2003 and 2004 to evaluate the ability of common postharvest practices (i.e., burn, mow, roll, disk, or standing stubble) to conserve waste rice. We detected a postharvest treatment effect and a positive effect of initial abundance of waste rice on late‐autumn abundance of waste rice ( P ≤ 0.022). Standing stubble contained the greatest abundance of waste rice followed by burned, mowed, rolled, and disked stubble. We recommend standing stubble or burning to maximize waste rice abundance for wintering waterfowl.