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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #88508
Title: THE INFLUENCE OF SEASONALLY FLOODED CROPLAND ON NON-BREEDING WATERFOWL

Author
item Maul, Jonathan
item Cooper, Charles

Submitted to: Mississippi Water Resources Research Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A common management practice in Mississippi is post-harvest flooding of agricultural fields. We conducted two field experiments to determine how seasonally flooded cropland may influence non-breeding waterfowl. First, we compared waterfowl behavioral data collected from flooded rice fields to data from moist-soil wetlands and detected several habitat, season, and interaction effects on behaviors such as feeding and resting. Second, we determined the influence of crop type on the number of waterfowl observed within flooded fields and detected no difference in the total number of ducks within fields of soybean and Japanese millet. This information may be applied toward managing flooded habitats in a spatial as well as a temporal context. Our goals are to specifically address the impact of flooding agricultural fields on waterfowl, provide information that can be used to further the understanding of agricultural ecosystems, and stimulate further thought on potential positive or negative impacts of post-harvest flooding.