1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:11,239 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here and the sharing economy has 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: changed everything from how people get around a city to 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 1: how they rent rooms while traveling, and now it's even 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: seeping into ecology. In California's Sacramento Valley, farmers are temporarily 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: leasing flooded rice patties to the Nature Conservancy so the 7 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: migratory shore birds have a place to stop and feed 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: while traveling the Pacific Flyway, which is the major north 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: south route that extends from Alaska to Patagonia. The program, 10 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: dubbed Bird Returns, has been in development by the Nature 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: Conservancy since and is helping conservationists deal with the short 12 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: term needs of migrating birds. Because of urbanization, agriculture, and 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: climate change, the migrating birds have less access to wilderness 14 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: to mate, feed, nest, and rear their young. At the 15 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: same time, project gives farmers the opportunity to support conservation 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: efforts and maybe earn a little extra money without negatively 17 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: impacting crop production. During February and March of the pilot 18 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: season for the program, just two percent of Sacramento Valleys, 19 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: some five hundred thousand acres of rice fields, and that's 20 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: around two hundred thousand hectares were turned into shallow water 21 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: for shorebird habitat. That season, the pop up wetlands supported 22 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: more than a hundred and eighty thousand birds, representing fifty 23 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: seven different species. On average. The researchers found three times 24 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: more bird diversity and five times greater density on rice 25 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: patties that participated in the program compared to unenrolled fields. 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: Migrating animals, like shorebirds are in jeopardy as their ranges 27 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: cover vast swaths of land. A study published in the 28 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: journal Science in reported that just nine percent of over 29 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: one thousand, four hundred migratory bird species had access to 30 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: protected areas for all the stage of their annual cycle. 31 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: In California, in particular, of original wetland habitat has been 32 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:12,679 Speaker 1: lost to agriculture and urban development. Since the Nature Conservancy 33 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: was founded in ninety one, it's worked to conserve habitat 34 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: by working with landowners to purchase land or permanently limit 35 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: the use of their land in order to maintain its wildness. 36 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 1: Each agreement is worked out individually, a process that's expensive 37 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: and can take months or years to develop. For the 38 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: article of this episode, is based on how stuff works. 39 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: Spoke with Mark Reynolds, PhD, the lead scientist for the 40 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: Nature Conservancy's California Migratory Bird program. He explained that he 41 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: and his colleagues, including Sandy Matsmoto, the team's project manager, 42 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: and Eric Halstein, the team's economist, thought that the demand 43 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: for purchasing migrating bird habitat could far exceed their resources. Quote. 44 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: We were looking at our habitat needs and thinking how 45 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: do we buy our way to success us? Sandy said, 46 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: do we need to buy land for the whole year? 47 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 1: It looks like the animals needed part of the time. Eric, 48 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: with his background and economics, said we could do a 49 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: reverse auction. I said, a reverse What? A reverse auction 50 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: overturned the conventional role of buyer and seller. Instead of 51 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: buyers competing to outbid each other to obtain a good 52 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: or service, as sellers compete to offer their goods or 53 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: services to one buyer at a competitive price. And the 54 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: sellers in this case are the owners of rice fields, 55 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: which are typically farmed in California from April through August 56 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: or May through October. During the growing seasons. The fields 57 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: are normally flooded, but they're also flooded during the off 58 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: seasons to decompose the rice double after harvest, Reynolds and 59 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: his colleagues saw an opportunity to work with the farmers 60 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: to provide temporary wetland habitat for shorebirds passing through. So 61 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: in early the Nature Conservancy issued an invitation to rice 62 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: farmers to submit bids that itemized their costs to flood 63 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: fields for four, six or eight weeks at a time 64 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: beginning in February of that same year. The farmers set 65 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: their own prices and the Nature Conservancy was able to 66 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: select the highest quality habitat for the lowest total cost. 67 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: They repeated the process in the fall often then every 68 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: year since then. Housta Works also spoke with John Brennan, 69 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: a partner at Brennan Jewitt and Associates, a firm that 70 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: manages rice sales for the Robbins Rice Company. He explained 71 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: that the farmers are very receptive to this concept quote 72 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: and to the extent that they can get their costs 73 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: covered to do it. They're even more receptive because they 74 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: see it as a something that they're excited about and 75 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: a way to make an environmental difference and be something 76 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: that really helps secure the longevity of the rice industry 77 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: in California. To figure out where and when shore birds 78 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: most needed wetland habitat for their migrations, Reynolds and his 79 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: colleagues worked with experts at Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, 80 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: which collects information about birds through its citizen science project 81 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: The Bird. This online checklist allows bird enthusiasts across the 82 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: country to tabulate the kinds of birds they see, when 83 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: they see them, how many, and where. Using data from 84 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: eBird and grant money from NASA, the Cornell team built 85 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: high powered computer models that predicted, at weekly intervals, the 86 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: presence and abundance of birds at different locations. From these models, 87 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: Reynolds and his colleagues created maps to visualize and prioritize 88 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: where and when habitat was needed most. But once they 89 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: knew the locations, they requested bids from the local rice farmers, 90 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: and they adjust the program based on weather conditions. During 91 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: times of drought, the Nature Conservancy would pay more, and 92 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: during times of excessive rain, it would pay less. When 93 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: they extrapolated the potential costs for the project out and 94 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: they found the highest possible cost per year based on 95 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: the average bid, was one point are million dollars, but 96 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: that's significantly higher than what the Nature Conservancy actually paid. Meanwhile, 97 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: the estimated cost to restore rice fields to wetland habitats 98 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: equal to that land area would cost around twenty five 99 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: million dollars, and maintenance fees would come in and about 100 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars a year. So this seems like 101 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: a win win, But the researchers stress that these pop 102 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: up wetlands are tools and not meant to replace permanent protection. 103 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: If the land switched from rice farming to some other 104 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: use that wasn't compatible with seasonal flooding, another protection strategy 105 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: would need to be considered. For now, though rice farming 106 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: and bird conservation are working hand in hand, Reynolds said, 107 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: we're engaged with this community of farmers and thinking about 108 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: a lot of other ways to conjoin farming and environmental benefits. 109 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article pop up Wetlands 110 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: Helping migrating shorebirds on house toff works dot com, written 111 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: by Tracy Steeter. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio 112 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: in partnership with how stuffworks dot com, and it is 113 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart 114 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 115 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.