Theses and Dissertations
Issuing Body
Mississippi State University
Advisor
Kaminski, Richard M.
Committee Member
Jones, Jeanne
Committee Member
Reinecke, Kenneth J.
Committee Member
Kurtz, Mark E.
Date of Degree
5-13-2006
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Open Access
Major
Wildlife and Fisheries Science
Degree Name
Master of Science
College
College of Forest Resources
Department
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Abstract
Waste rice in harvested fields and natural seeds in moist-soil wetlands are important foods for waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV). Waste rice declines significantly between harvest and late autumn. I conducted experiments in 19 rice fields in Arkansas and Mississippi during autumns 2003 and 2004 to evaluate the ability of common post-harvest practices to conserve waste rice between harvest and late autumn. Greatest mean abundance of waste rice in late autumn occurred in standing stubble (x&95 = 105 kg/ha; CL = 72.84, 150.16 kg/ha) followed by burned (x&95 = 72 kg/ha; 49.57, 105.81 kg/ha), mowed (x&95 = 67 kg/ha; 46.65, 97.42 kg/ha), rolled (x&95 = 51 kg/ha; 35.54, 73.076 kg/ha), and disked stubble (x&95 = 48 kg/ha; 33.26, 68.41 kg/ha). I recommend leaving stubble or burning fields to create interspersion of stubble and water after flooding. Additionally, I estimated abundance of moist-soil seed in 72 management units on public lands throughout the MAV for autumns 2002-2004. Mean seed abundance was 496 kg/ha (SE = 62). I recommend increased active management of moist-soil wetlands to mitigate decreased availability of waste rice in the MAV.
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17329
Recommended Citation
Kross, Jennifer, "Conservation Of Waste Rice And Estimates Of Moist-Soil Seed Abundance For Wintering Waterfowl In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley" (2006). Theses and Dissertations. 1159.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/1159