Status of Birds Using a Rice Paddy in South Korea

BACKGROUND: Rice paddies not only produce food but also provides wildlife habitats. Although more than half agricultural land of South Korea is rice paddy, a few studies have been conducted in rice paddy ecosystem. We investigated a status of bird using a rice paddy in South Korea using published data. METHODS AND RESULTS: Birds using a rice paddy have been defined as birds which breed, rest or forage on rice paddy, bank, reservoirs or irrigation ditches. According to the publication from 1980s, birds using a rice paddy were total 47 families 279 species. Scolopacidae and Charadriidae (18%), Falconidae, Accipitridae and Strigidae (12%) and Anatidae (11%) used a rice paddy. Half of bird species using a rice paddy visited a dried rice paddy during the winter and 39.4% of them used a flooded rice paddy in spring, autumn or summer. Dependency on a rice paddy was high in ducks, egrets, cranes, and shorebirds. Population of dabbling ducks has decreased for last 12 years while cranes have increased. CONCLUSION(S): Rice paddies provide both migratory