At UC Davis, Daniel Karp leads studies on how we can protect wildlife while growing abundant, healthy safe food. His USDA-funded research shows that removing natural habitat from farmland—often done to reduce foodborne illness—can actually make things worse. Farms that preserve habitats attract birds that eat crop-damaging pests and are less likely to carry foodborne disease. Karp’s work helps farmers adopt win-win practices that support biodiversity, food safety and sustainable agriculture.
From ducks and cranes to giant garter snakes and salmon, flooded rice fields in California’s Central Valley offer important — often vital — habitat to many wildlife species. Yet uncertainties around crop markets, water and climate can prompt some growers to fallow rice fields or change their management practices.
Will today’s rice acreage under current practices be enough to meet key species’ needs? If not, how much rice is needed? Where should it be planted? And what management practices offer the greatest benefit for species of concern?
