**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFULLY PROMOTING WILDLIFE AND THE BENEFITS THAT THEY CAN DELIVER TO FARMERS REMAIN ELUSIVE WITHIN LARGE-SCALE, INTENSIVE FARMING OPERATIONS. A NOTABLE EXCEPTION EXISTS IN CALIFORNIA, WHERE RICE FARMERS FLOOD THEIR FIELDS EACH WINTER, SUPPORTING MILLIONS OF MIGRATORY WATERBIRDS AND OTHER WETLAND-ASSOCIATED WILDLIFE. YET GROWERS ARE BEGINNING TO SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES TO WINTER FLOODING, AS DROUGHTS INCREASE WATER PRICES AND REGULATORS BEGIN TO SCRUTINIZE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS EMANATING FROM FLOODED FIELDS. AS A RESULT, THE FUTURE OF WINTER-FLOODED RICE FIELDS IS IN JEAPARDY, AS ARE THE MANY SPECIES THAT CURRENTLY RELY UPON OR COULD POTENTIALLY BENEFIT THESE HABITATS. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DETERMINE WHETHER INTRODUCING FISH ONTO RICE FARMS REPRESENTS A VIABLE PATH FOR INCENTIVIZING WINTER FIELD FLOODING. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL IMPLEMENT A LARGE, FIELD-SCALE EXPERIMENT IN WHICH WE EXCLUDE WATERBIRDS AND ADD FISH TO FIELDS ON A WORKING RICE FARM TO ACHIEVE THREE OBJECTIVES. FIRST, WE WILL TRACK INVERTEBRATE PREY DENSITIES, FISH GROWTH/SURVIVAL, AND BIRD ACTIVITY TO DETERMINE HOW FISH AND BIRDS INTERACT WITHIN RICE FIELDS (I.E., TO WHAT EXTENT DO BIRDS CONSUME AND/OR COMPETE WITH FISH?). SECOND, WE WILL QUANTIFY THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF WATERBIRDS AND FISH IN FLOODED RICE FIELDS, COMPARING WEED BIOMASS, SOIL FERTILITY, WASTE RICE STRAW DECOMPOSITION, AND CROP YIELDS BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS. THIRD, WE WILL EVALUATE EMERGING EVIDENCE THAT FISH PRESENCE CAN REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN FLOODED RICE FIELDS BY CONSUMING ZOOPLANKTON, WHICH INDIRECTLY ALLOWS KEY BACTERIA TO FLOURISH AND REDUCE METHANE PRODUCTION. COMBINED WITH THE POTENTIAL PROFITS FROM SELLING FISH AS A 'SECOND CROP,' QUANITFYING THE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM WATERBIRDS AND FISH MAY HELP MOTIVATE RICE FARMERS TO CONTINUE FLOODING THEIR FIELDS. MORE BROADLY, THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE HOW INTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES COULD BE STRATEGICALLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY CO-MANAGED FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, CLIMATE-CHANGE MITIGATION, AND CROP PRODUCTION.