Articles | Volume 26, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-26-103-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-26-103-2026
Standard article
 | 
08 Jul 2026
Standard article |  | 08 Jul 2026

Landscape context outweighs field-scale features in structuring bird communities in West African smallholder rice agroecosystems

Paula Lopes, Inês Lacerda, Patrícia Chaves, Ricardo F. de Lima, Mutaro Camará, Miguel Lecoq, Jorge M. Palmeirim, and Ana Rainho

Cited articles

Amano, T. and Yamaura, Y.: Ecological and life-history traits related to range contractions among breeding birds in Japan, Biol. Conserv., 137, 271–282, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2007.02.010, 2007. 
Amano, T., Kusumoto, Y., Tokuoka, Y., Yamada, S., Kim, E. Y., and Yamamoto, S.: Spatial and temporal variations in the use of rice-paddy dominated landscapes by birds in Japan, Biol. Conserv., 141, 1704–1716, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.012, 2008. 
Angkaew, R., Ngoprasert, D., Powell, L. A., Limparungpatthanakij, W., Round, P. D., and Gale, G. A.: Variation in avian responses to rice intensification in the central plains of Thailand guides conservation opportunities, Biol. Conserv., 286, 110307, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110307, 2023. 
Bartoń, K.: MuMIn: Multi-Model Inference, https://cran.r-project.org/package=MuMIn (last access: 19 May 2025), 2025. 
Bates, D., Martin, M., Bolker, B., and Walker, S.: Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4, J. Stat. Softw., 67, 1–48, https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01, 2015. 
Download
Short summary
Bird richness in rain-fed rice fields of Guinea-Bissau was influenced by field management and landscape structure. Tree cover and field width enhanced richness, but landscape composition and edge complexity had stronger effects. The findings highlight the importance of landscape-level planning alongside local habitat measures to support biodiversity and potentially ecosystem services in smallholder rice systems.
Share