Rice Fields: an Ecosystem Rich in Biodiversity
Rice fields have been in existence since the beginning of organized agriculture and a rich biodiversity has become associated with rice fields, which have made rice fields a haven for a vast array of plant and animal life.
Abstract
Rice fields have been in existence since th'e beginning of organized agriculture. Since then a rich biodiversity has become associated with rice fields. Rice fields constitute manmade ecosystems. Due to their long existence, the vast extent of land they occupy in the humid tropics, the array of ccological habitats they encompass and the dilkrem phases they pass through during a cultivation cycle, rice fields have become unique ecosystems. It is an ecosystemthat sustains not only the people whose staple &et is rice but also a diverse assemblage of plants and animals that have made rice fields their niche. Rice fields are dynamic and rapidly changing ecosystems. The varied agronomic practices conducted on rice fields andthe series of growth stages the rice crop passes through during a short passage of time, have made rice fields a haven for a vast array of plant and animal life. To these life forms the rice fields offer shelter, food, breeding and nesting grounds. The rice fields also offer temporary refuge to those animals that are not permanent inhabitants but visit this ecosystem for avariety of purposes.