Rice fields as alternative foraging grounds: Rising shorebird diversity and abundance despite declines in natural coastal wintering sites

Abstract

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.