The impact of waterfowl foraging on the decomposition of rice straw: mutual benefits for rice growers and waterfowl

1. Recent legislation in California, USA, has restricted traditional open-field burning of rice straw residues, leading farmers to adopt alternative methods of straw disposal such as post-harvest flooding of rice fields. These changes may benefit wildlife because winter-flooded fallow rice fields provide foraging habitat to migratory waterfowl. In turn, the foraging activity of waterfowl may help to increase rice straw decomposition, providing a reciprocal benefit to farmers. We examined the effects of waterfowl foraging activity on straw decomposition and nitrogen mineralization following rice harvest in a fallow flooded soil. 2. Experimental plots (25 m(2)) were established on a silty clay soil and were subjected to two post-harvest treatments: wet-rolled or untilled. Mallard ducks Anas platyrhynchos were placed in one-half of the experimental plots, following a split-plot design, for a 3-week period, at a density equivalent to 33 birds ha(-1) over a season of 180 days to approximate regional abundance data. 3. Waterfowl foraging activity increased residual surface straw decomposition by 78% in untilled plots and 18% in wet-rolled plots compared with the respective unforaged plots. Average straw diameter in foraged plots was reduced to one-third that of unforaged plots. 4. Waterfowl foraging and field tillage reduced nitrogen (N) concentrations in the surface straw residue remaining at the end of the winter fallow period. Below-ground organic residue was not affected by waterfowl foraging, indicating that ducks did not incorporate the straw. There were no apparent additions of carbon (C) or N to the soil as a result of waterfowl activity. 5. We conclude that waterfowl foraging can substantially increase straw decomposition in flooded, fallow, rice fields. Accordingly, rice producers should consider agronomic practices that attract waterfowl, such as winter flooding, to maximize the decomposition of rice straw residue. At the upper end of regionally observed waterfowl densities (at or near 33 birds ha(-1) season(-1)) waterfowl foraging activity may alleviate the need for autumn tillage. Shallow flooded rice fields will also provide important winter habitat to migratory waterfowl, aiding wetland management and conservation efforts in the Central Valley of California. 6. These results provide an example of how a mutually beneficial solution can be achieved that provides needed waterbird habitat while concomitantly alleviating an agricultural problem.